Launching Digital Map to Support SDGs in Indonesia, UI FMIPA Geography Student Team Wins International Award

The “Hero of Sustainability” team consisting of seven students from the Geography Department, FMIPA UI, namely Bella Hena Samira (2019), Devina Azalya Permata (2019), Najma Khofifah (2019), Farah Surviawati (2019), Yoga Dafa N. (2018), Ahmadea Ghafari (2019) and Ariq Anggaraksa (2019) won an international award as 2nd Place People’s Choice Category at the Esri User Conference Map Gallery 2021 event organized by Esri, California (USA). This was officially announced by Esri as the organizer on July 27, 2021 via personal email.

The “Hero of Sustainability” project synergizes with the SDGs principle of “No One Left Behind” which means that no individual or community group (region) is left behind. This project carries the concept of “Priority Ranking” for provinces in Indonesia based on indicators of each SDGs goal. Through this project, the FMIPA UI team seeks to contribute to helping the central government, regions, related institutions, and the community in overcoming the problems of their respective regions.

The initial idea came from their anxiety, including Bella as the team leader, who realized that there was still a lack of education about SDGs among the community.

“Hero of Sustainability itself is a user-friendly digital map, where we use the concept of priority ranking in each of its objectives. With the mapping of 17 SDGs objectives from 34 provinces in Indonesia, the public can quickly get information about the most advanced or lagging provinces in each of its objectives. Thus, we hope that the contribution of SDGs in each region can be more evenly distributed," said Bella.

The processing process carried out includes collecting data obtained from trusted sources such as BPS data, ministries, Google Maps, and so on. The data that has been obtained is then processed using Microsoft Excel software to determine the ranking and ArcGIS pro for the mapping process until it becomes web map. Meanwhile, the manufacture dashboard done using ArcGIS Experience Builder.

After a working process of approximately 2 months, they finally submitted their digital map work to an international competition attended by more than 470 participants from various countries.

"Initially, this project was only intended as a final project (as an intern at Esri Indonesia). During the presentation session, it turned out that we received a lot of appreciation. From there, we felt more confident thanks to the many supports from the people around us," said Devina as one of the team members.

In completing the project "Hero of Sustainability", they also often face challenges such as the difficulty of working on the project amidst the density of lectures and exams. However, armed with the knowledge taught by their supervisors during their internship at Esri and strong motivation to help each other, the team finally managed to break the record to bring the good name of UI Geography to the international arena.

“So actually (name) Hero of Sustainability) started from our intention as Geography students to be heroes for SDGs. Basically, we want to make Geography famous and introduce this field of science to the wider community," said Bella.

At the end of the interview session, they also shared their happiness from the experience. One of the reasons is because the project they worked on can benefit many people, including the government or private sector who need information about Indonesia's underdeveloped regions.

"Initially, we just wanted to gain experience. Although No easy and we were also pessimistic at first, but in the end we were relieved because it turned out impact yang kita bawa bisa jauh lebih besar dari effort that we give," said Najma.

The Esri User Conference Map Gallery 2021 organized by Esri California USA opened submissions for digital maps on July 4, 2021, the voting period starts on July 12-16, 2021, and ends with the announcement of the winners via email on July 27, 2021.

Kontributor : Arrizqy Nadya Khairunnisa Yulianto (Geografi FMIPA UI)

News source: https://sci.ui.ac.id/