The SBM ITB Industrial Summit 2026 highlighted the importance of cross-sector collaboration in strengthening Indonesia’s sustainable competitiveness. Participants emphasized that the country’s resources, technology, and infrastructure must be accompanied by the ability to turn ideas into concrete action and sustainable economic value.
Held alongside ICMEM 2026, the Summit brought together ministers, policymakers, industry leaders, academics, practitioners, and representatives from various institutions. Under the theme “Wealth of Nations: An International Forum Commemorating the Intellectual Legacy of Adam Smith,” the Summit explored Indonesia’s challenges and opportunities from a range of industry perspectives.
Discussions covered several strategic sectors, including natural resources and energy, finance, property, entrepreneurship, transportation, creative industries, tourism, and renewable energy. Despite their different characteristics, the sectors shared a common need to build ecosystems that connect resources, technology, capital, talent, and policy.
Closing the Summit, Prof. Ir. Lavi Rizki Zuhal, Ph.D. emphasized the importance of bringing practical experience and intellectual inquiry together to develop solutions with meaningful impact.
“Practical experience helps us understand what works in the real world, while intellectual inquiry helps us examine why it works, under what conditions, and how it can be improved,” said Prof. Lavi.
According to Prof. Lavi, combining these two perspectives is essential to ensure that ideas do not remain at the conceptual level, but can be implemented in practice and continuously improved to address evolving challenges.
In the natural resources sector, discussions highlighted the need to shift the focus from increasing production alone toward creating greater and more sustainable value. The mining, oil, and gas industries were encouraged to strengthen governance, technology, value-added processing, traceability, and talent development.
Transformation was also a key theme in the financial sector. The growth of digital payments, mobile banking, and retail investment is creating new opportunities for financial inclusion. However, greater access must be accompanied by stronger financial literacy, consumer protection, capital market development, and responsible use of AI.
In the property sector, participants highlighted the importance of viewing urban areas as integrated ecosystems rather than collections of individual buildings. Connectivity, access to transportation, proximity to employment centers, energy efficiency, and data utilization will be increasingly important in developing sustainable places that respond to people’s needs.
Meanwhile, discussions on entrepreneurship emphasized the importance of building adaptive businesses with healthy economic foundations. Digital technology can serve as a tool for creating value, but business strategies must remain grounded in an understanding of market and customer needs. Collaboration among government, universities, investors, businesses, and communities is also essential to strengthening Indonesia’s innovation ecosystem.
In transportation, the challenge is no longer simply about building new infrastructure, but about integrating different modes and services into a connected ecosystem. Real-time data and AI can support operational efficiency, safety, route planning, and first- and last-mile connectivity.
The creative industries and tourism sectors were also identified as strategic opportunities for Indonesia. Participants noted that competitiveness will depend not only on producing more content or attracting more visitors, but also on the ability to develop distinctive stories, intellectual property, and experiences. As AI accelerates content production, human creativity and strategic judgment will become increasingly important differentiators.
In renewable energy, Indonesia has significant potential that must be translated into bankable projects capable of being deployed at scale. Stronger electricity grids, energy storage, efficient procurement, credible offtake arrangements, and effective risk-sharing mechanisms will be crucial to accelerating the development of solar, wind, hydropower, and geothermal energy.
Across the different discussions, one message emerged clearly: Indonesia’s competitiveness cannot be built by any single sector alone. Resources, infrastructure, capital, technology, governance, human capital, innovation, and sustainability must be brought together through strong collaboration.
This spirit reflects the broader intellectual foundation of the Summit and its connection to the legacy of Adam Smith. In today’s Indonesia, prosperity is not simply about the abundance of resources or economic growth, but also about how institutions, businesses, academics, government, and communities transform those resources into productive, inclusive, and sustainable value.
On behalf of SBM ITB, Prof. Lavi Rizki Zuhal expressed his appreciation to the ministers, speakers, moderators, panelists, and contributors who shared their knowledge and experience throughout the Summit. He also acknowledged the collaboration with the University of Glasgow, participating institutions, media partners, and other supporters.
Support from partners, including Lembaga Penjamin Simpanan (LPS) and Medco, also contributed significantly to the successful implementation of the SBM ITB Industrial Summit 2026. Their involvement reflects the importance of bringing together academic perspectives, industry experience, and public policy to address Indonesia’s complex development challenges.
As the Summit concluded, participants were encouraged to ensure that the dialogue continues beyond the event by translating insights, connections, and commitments into concrete initiatives. For SBM ITB, this represents the core purpose of the Summit: bringing practical wisdom and intellectual inquiry together to help build a more competitive, inclusive, and sustainable Indonesia.
