JAKARTA – The US-ASEAN Science, Technology, and Innovation Cooperation (STIC) Annual Conference took centre stage as a pivotal component of the Symposium on Accelerating Science, Technology, and Circular Innovation in Southeast Asia. Held on 5-6 September 2023 in Jakarta, Indonesia, the event underscored US’ commitment to being a strong, dependable, and active partner to ASEAN by supporting initiatives that drive cooperation in science, innovation, technology, and sustainable economic growth.
The conference began with the Venture Pitch Competition where 35 participants from the STIC Virtual Incubator Program presented their innovative ideas to a panel of judges. Another competition, the STIC Research and Publishing Poster Showcase highlighted research concepts that showed real-world application or produced data that could be used to influence policy formulation in the ASEAN Member States. These proposals were selected from hundreds of concepts submitted to the STIC Talent Mobility Portal from learning community across the region. The top four research proposals from both competitions received US$12,500 each in seed funding.
Winners for the Venture Pitch Competition were Annamalai Thani of Malaysia for his HariGaji project on financial well-being, Feb Hillman of Indonesia for a carbon capture solution for cement industries, Vu Hai Nam of Viet Nam with air quality monitoring equipment and software tMonitor, and Rival Syah of Indonesia with Karja’s digital marketplace which aims to reduce unemployment.
The two-day event provided a significant opportunity for the US and ASEAN Member States to collaborate, share knowledge, and promote innovation in science, technology, and circular innovation. As both sides recognise the crucial role of these fields in sustainable economic growth, this event exemplified the mutual commitment to build a prosperous future together.
