ICMEM (9)For the third time, the School of Business and Management – Institut Teknologi Bandung (SBM ITB) organizes the International Conference on Management in Emerging Markets (ICMEM) in Bali, Indonesia. This time around, ICMEM is held in conjunction with the 2nd International Business Engineering Conference (IBEC), a program of the International Association for Business Engineering Professionals (IABEP). The members of IABEP are Reutlingen University (Germany), Aston University (UK), Bridgewater State University (USA), University Pahang Malaysia (Malaysia), Ho Chi Minh City National University (Vietnam), and ITB (Indonesia). It is with the spirit of collaboration that these two conferences are concurrently organized.

Substantially speaking, the theme of each conference is also intertwined, with ICMEM focusing on “Digital Integration and Business Sustainability in Emerging Markets” and IBEC on “Business Engineering and Industry 4.0 in a Global Economy.” As in previous years, ICMEM hosts paper and poster presentations from academics, practitioners, and students. Overall, there are about 256 papers submitted, with 236 assigned for paper presentation while 20 assigned for poster presentation. Furthermore, there are 30 participants of workshop and 20 participant of product exhibition including participation of one laboratory and one study program in school of business and management ITB. It is expected that there are about 7 nationalities (for participants) represented in both conferences combined.

The keynote speeches are delivered by Robert Marbun (Expert Staff of Ministry of Finance) and Prof. Dr. Hendrik Brume (President of Reutlingen University) while panel sessions consists of academic and industry experts that include Prof. Kung-Jeng Wang (the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology), Dr. Raoul Oberman (McKinsey & Company Indonesia), Dr. Hermawan Kartajaya (MarkPlus & Co), Dr. Deddy P. Koesrindartoto (SBM ITB), Prof. Dr. Edward Sweeney (Aston University), Dr. Alfred Boediman (Managing Director of Samsung R&D Institut Indonesia), and Ir. I Made Dana M. Tangkas, M.Si (President of Indonesia Automotive Institute, IOI). In addition, there are six (6) scheduled industry workshops, which are the core activities of IBEC and a substantial part of ICMEM. Participants of each conference can experience both conferences with a one-time, all-inclusive, fee.

Further, the final phase of the 2nd SwissInnovation Challenge Asia-Indonesia (the competition program as a result of the collaboration between SBM ITB and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland) is also happening within the same period (on August 9), in the same venue as ICMEM and IBEC. The 1st competition program of its kind was organized in 2017 in Bandung, Indonesia.

Overall, it is another year of international collaborations for SBM ITB and another year of learning and sharing. Bali, considered a melting pot of people coming from around the world, appears to be a perfect place that witnesses such collaborations to happen.

ICMEM (5) ICMEM (3)