Jakarta, December 5, 2024 – Regional Hub on Big Data and Data Science for Asia and The Pacific secretariat facilitated a strategic meeting with representatives from ESCAP, the UN Global Hub, and Experts, focusing on advancing the role of big data in regional agricultural monitoring and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The event took place in the Senate Meeting Room of the STIS campus, chaired by Prof. Setia Pramana.

The agenda included presentations on ongoing research initiatives, with notable contributions from Dr. Eng. Lya Hulliyyatus Suadaa on the UN Regional Big Data Hub and Prof. Setia Pramana on the institution’s data analytics research. These presentations showcased the alignment of big data applications with agricultural priorities and climate change mitigation.

Key discussions revolved around leveraging remote sensing technologies for rice growth monitoring. Prof. Huang Jingfeng highlighted the advanced methodologies used in China for detecting paddy growth phases using NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and stressed the need for high-resolution satellite imagery to cater to Indonesia’s continuous cropping cycles.

Meanwhile, Prof. Wayne Wobcke emphasized the potential of open-source platforms like Kaggle for methodological sharing. Eric Deeben the Chief Technical Advisor on the Big Data project underlined the importance of knowledge-sharing across hubs and ESCAP region. He further suggested that sharing of the One Rice project data with the global experts in secure and managed environment such as the regional hub can enhance  the project result and shorten the delivery timeline. A potential collaboration with Zhejiang University was also discussed, focusing on the implementation of AI and remote sensing in agricultural monitoring.

The meeting concluded with a commitment to advance the Mixed Method Project under the UN Regional Hub’s agenda. It was noted as a strategic initiative addressing the government’s priorities in rice production. Plans for knowledge-sharing webinars and partnerships to secure funding were also proposed.