The second week in May marked the beginning of Indonesia's busyness in taking responsibility as the President of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). May 2019 is the first time for Indonesia sitting in the UN Security Council presidency. In its presicdency, Indonesia has prepared various work programs and major events, including the Photography Exhibition themed "Sowing the Seeds of Peace".

The exhibition was officially opened by the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi at the UN Headquarters, New York, United States, Monday (05/06/2019) night local time. Retno Marsudi said, the various photos on display were a small part of Indonesia's contribution, participating as part of various world issues.

Retno explained, for Indonesia, peace is not only about war, but also includes freedom of democracy, human rights and development. According to Retno, the photo exhibition was also considered to be the right media to remind the world community of what Indonesia had done to maintain peace.

“The world knows that we have contributed a lot, but, if then our contribution is put in a picture or film, then people will remember. For example, like the Palestinian ambassador when he saw an Indonesian hospital in Gaza. He immediately remembered "Oh yes, this is a hospital that has been built by Indonesia,” Retni Marsudi said.

As a permanent member or the Elected 10 of the UN Security Council, Indonesia should be proud, because currently it occupies the 8th position out of 124 countries contributing to the Peace Forces in various conflict areas. Meanwhile, the photo exhibition, which is a series of the Indonesian Presidency at the UNSC, documented Indonesia's contribution to world peace, including democracy and peace building, the role of women as agents of change and peace and development cooperation. (KBRN / Retno / AHM)

The government discussed a plan to establish a vocational education committee that would manage a number of matters related to the subject.

"We have reviewed and discussed establishing a committee to manage all matters relating to vocational education," Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Puan Maharani said after a meeting with President Joko Widodo at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Monday.

The senior minister remarked that a number of related ministers would discuss the formation of the committee during a follow-up meeting.

The committee was intended to increase the capabilities of human resources in Indonesian and to accelerate their development.

"The training is focused in accordance with Indonesia's future needs," the minister said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuljono pointed out that President Joko Widodo expected vocational education to be more widespread.

"President Joko Widodo wants more focused trainings in ministries and institutions," he remarked.

He stated that President Joko Widodo urged Minister of National Development Planning/Head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Bambang Brodjonegoro to plan the development of vocational education.

The committee will become a coordinating body and oversee vocational training programs in each ministry or institution.  (ANTARA)

The industry ministry hopes that the Industrial 4.0 system unleashes opportunities for Indonesia to become an Internet of Things (IoT) business ecosystem to fortify the structure of digital technology to apply the fourth industrial revolution.

Furthermore, Indonesia will evolve into an IoT business ecosystem worth Rp444 trillion in 2022.

"The opportunity for Indonesia to become an IoT ecosystem is huge. This potential can also be gauged from the number of internet users in the country, reaching over 140 million people. Essentially, the transformation to Industry 4.0 is the key to the success of Indonesia's future development,'' Director of the Electronics and Telematics Industry of the Ministry of Industry R. Janu Suryanto noted in Jakarta, Tuesday.

Suryanto opined that implementing Industry 4.0 will additionally promote greater investment by firms, particularly those related to the utilization of the latest technology, such as IoT.

The step is expected to facilitate greater productivity and competitiveness in the manufacturing sector and give rise to an innovation ecosystem.

"Hence, Indonesia should not only become a market for digital economy but also capitalize on digital economic development to drive industrial growth and competitiveness," he noted.

IoT, artificial intelligence (AI), human-machine interfaces, robotic technology and sensors, and 3D printing technology are the five key technologies supporting the development of the Industrial 4.0 system.

Suryanto elaborated that applying Industry 4.0 aimed at automating and digitizing the production process, with a discernible rise in connectivity, interaction, and boundaries between humans, machines, and other increasingly convergent resources through information and communication technology.

"Digitalizing the industrial sector will usher in changes for the manufacturing system, influenced by the wave of new technology," he stated.

In this scenario, for instance, the production section will experience a change brought about by customer-oriented technology.

Moreover, the technology offers opportunities for production systems and flexible new business models.

To optimize the utilization of the most up-to-date technology, spotting new skills is deemed paramount. To this end, efforts should be directed towards improving the capacity of industrial human resources.

"In this era of transformation, the government has been endeavoring to ready qualified human resources to meet the requirements of Industry 4.0," he pointed out.

The Center for Investigation and Development of Geological Disaster Technology (BPPTKG) said that Mount Merapi on the border of the Special Region of Yogyakarta and Central Java launched pyroclastic avalanches six times on Sunday.

Head of BBPTKG Hanik Humaida said in a statement here Sunday that the six avalanches recorded at 00.00 to 06.00 (Indonesia western time) had an amplitude of 3-20 mm with a duration of 29-77 seconds.

In addition to the avalanches, on the volcano there was also one low frequency earthquake with an amplitude of 10 mm and a duration of 23 seconds and two times of long tectonic quakes with an amplitude of 3-12 mm for 110-228 seconds.

Meanwhile, visual observations showed the presence of white smoke with thin intensity and high 30-50 meters above the top of the crater.

On the volcano, the wind blew weakly to the east and southeast, the air temperature was 15-19 degrees Celsius, the humidity was 68-84 percent, and the air pressure was 629-689 mmHg.

Until now BPPTKG maintained the status of Mount Merapi at Level II or Alert and for the time being did not recommend climbing activities except for the purposes of investigation and research related to disaster mitigation.

BPPTKG asked residents not to carry out activities within a radius of three kilometers from the summit of Mount Merapi, and appealed to residents around the Gendol River flow area to increase awareness because the gliding distance of the hot clouds of Merapi's fighters was farther away. (ANTARA)