VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

As a maritime country, Indonesia is required to be able to move quickly and efficiently in evacuating victims in an accident in the waters. In regard to this, a team of students from the Sepuluh Nopember (November Ten) Institute of Technology (ITS) created a computer vision-based autonomous ship drone for marine accident victims, called ‘YOLO-Boat’.

Andreas Raja Goklas Sitorus as the head of the YOLO-Boat design team said that this innovation is designed to assist the Search and Rescue (SAR) team in avoiding danger during the process of rescuing accident victims in the waters, especially at sea”. There are factors that can endanger the SAR team when carrying out rescues in the field, such as the weather and the location of the accident. Andreas added that this tool is designed to be able to work independently in detecting victims so that it can minimize the risk of danger in the rescue process.

 The YOLO-Boat name is an acronym from You Only Live Once. The name was chosen with the aim that this ship can be a hope for the victims. The Shipping Engineering Department student explained that YOLO-Boat uses many technologies. It uses a catamaran hull or double hull where this hull has been designed to have good stability in carrying out its mission. According to Andreas, the propulsion system uses an azimuth propulsion system that can increase the YOLO-Boat's capability to maneuver in waters. Andreas Dan and his team also designed the electrical system as efficiently as possible, both from the control system and the ship's power management. In addition, in its operations, YOLO-Boat uses the Robot Operating System (ROS) as the main framework. This ship uses several sensors that function to provide location and orientation data which will later be used in the guided navigation of the YOLO-Boat.

In using Computer Vision technology, a special object detection model was created, namely the YOLOv4 architecture based on Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). In its operation, computer vision identifies and allows YOLO-Boat to come to rescue victims.

 In its application, the YOLO-Boat must first be brought using a rescue ship to the waters designated as the accident site. Then, the YOLO-Boat will be released into the sea and begin the process of searching for victims. When the victim is detected, the YOLO-Boat will give the victim a lifebuoy. Afterwards, the YOLO-Boat sends a signal to the rescue ship to come to the location of the victim found. Ideally, it would take many YOLO-Boats working together to increase the effectiveness of rescue victims. The effectiveness of the YOLO-Boat in identifying victims is proven by its ability to detect victims even though the only part of the victim's body that can appear on the sea surface. The YOLO-Boat can operate for 44 minutes with a maximum distance of 6,780 meters. The success of making YOLO-Boat has been shown from the results of prototype testing at Kenjeran Beach in Surabaya, East Java. YOLO-Boat is able to identify and secure the volunteers who play the role of drowning victims. Thanks to this extraordinary innovation, Andreas and his team also managed to bring home a silver medal at the 2021 National Student Scientific Week (Pimnas) in the category of Student Creativity Program.

Indonesia recorded transactions worth US$3.8 million or equivalent to Rp55.2 billion and four memorandums of understanding (MoU) on trade cooperation at the 7th World Halal Summit and the 8th OIC Halal Expo.  Trade Attaché of Indonesian Embassy in Ankara, Eric Gokasi Nababan in his written statement in Jakarta on Saturday (4/12) said that his side continuously still records real and potential transactions.The enthusiasm of visitors and buyers was very high during the exhibition, including the exploration and discussions outside and after closing  exhibition. He further explained that up to now, the process of transaction recording is still going on, and a number of participants are still in talks with potential importers. The largest portion of transactions is recorded from coffee products, spices and green coffee beans which become Indonesia’s primary products.

At the exhibition, four memorandums of understanding (MoU) were signed by Indonesian participants with Turkey's companies for coffee and chocolate product transactions. It was also reported that the significant transaction values were reached from dry chili products, food and beverages, furniture products, spices and lifestyle products. Besides being visited by potential buyers and public visitors, the Indonesian Pavilion, which performed beautifully with 24 exporters curated by the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara and the Ministry of Trade, was also visited by Turkish Vice President, Fuat Oktay.

During the visit, the Turkish Vice President paid special attention to Indonesian Islamic financial technology, Alami Peer to Peer Lending that also participated at the exhibition and received the attention of a number of Turkish angel investors. The market response for halal products was quite enthusiastic about Indonesian halal products. Indonesian Ambassador to Turkey, Lalu M Iqbal explained that even though other countries have started earlier, there is still a great opportunity for Indonesia to rebrand and become an important player at halal product market in the world.

Ahead of the 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year holidays, the Indonesian government is preparing to anticipate a spike in the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic due to increased community mobility. Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs as Chairperson of the Covid-19 Handling Committee and National Economic Recovery, Airlangga Hartarto in a press statement, Monday (6/12) said that the government would limit community activities during the 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year (Nataru) holidays.

Airlangga further pointed out that the community activities in public spaces, such as restaurants and shopping centers are limited to 75 percent. Gathering activities for various activities are limited to a maximum of 50 people. Besides, vacation activities or traveling during the Nataru holiday period are allowed for those who have been vaccinated. People who have not been vaccinated are not allowed to travel. This was stated by Airlangga Hartarto in a press conference related to the Virtual Evaluation of the Implementation of Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM). He also stated that Minister of Home Affairs, Tito Karnavian will immediately issue a Minister of Home Affairs Instruction, specifically for Nataru's holidays. The rules will follow the level adjusted to the World Health Organization -WHO. In a limited meeting, Monday (6/12), President Joko Widodo also ordered his aides to prepare booster vaccines early next year.

The Indonesian people should be grateful for the active cases of Covid-19 which have continued to decline in recent weeks. The latest data on Monday afternoon recorded that 130 cases were confirmed with 9 deaths. This number shows that although Covid-19 cases continue to decline, the pandemic does not shake off, yet. Vigilance must remain, especially with the spread of the Omicron variant which has spread to 45 countries. With the development of Covid-19 cases that continues to improve, the Indonesian people must not be careless ahead of the Nataru holidays.

The government has been working hard to control the pandemic. Thereby, the community should support the government's hard work by complying with the regulations to be issued. The restrictions that apply are only temporary. The 6M-health protocol is very important to follow during holidays. The 6M health protocol in question is wearing a mask, washing hands with soap through running water, maintaining distance, staying away from crowds, reducing mobility and avoiding eating together.

The Indonesian Embassy in Nairobi encourages Indonesian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to explore export opportunities to Africa, considering the huge potential that can be obtained from this trade cooperation. This was conveyed by Indonesian Ambassador to the Republic of Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mohamad Hery Saripudin  in the virtual event of the Insan Cita Business Forum "Export Opportunities to Africa" on December 3, 2021. A total of 94 participants, the majority of whom came from MSME, attended this virtual event. In addition, the CEO of Kareem Internasional, Isnandar was also present to convey many tips and tricks for exporting to the African region.

On October 6, the Indonesian Embassy in Nairobi established Soko la Indonesia at the Indonesian Embassy in Nairobi, containing two-thousand five hundred samples of Indonesian products which were exhibited to the potential importers in Kenya.

From the response of the Kenyan entrepreneurs who came to Soko la Indonesia, it turns out besides spices, products that have the potential to be exported to Kenya include snacks, handicrafts, furniture and coffee.

In addition to promoting Indonesian products through Soko la Indonesia, The Indonesian Embassy in Nairobi also seeks to invite four accreditation countries. They are Kenya, Uganda, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to start discussions on the establishment of Preferential Trade Arrangements (PTA). This arrangement is intended to provide facilities and ease for business people from both countries.

The Insan Cita Business Forum is expected to increase the interest of Indonesian MSME business people to carry out export to the Africa region, especially Kenya which is the entry gate for imported goods to other countries in the East African Region.