Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies (CESASS) at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) officially opened the 2025 Summer Course Program with the theme “Smart City, Digital Transformation and Society in Southeast Asia.” The opening ceremony was held on June 23, 2025, at 09:00 AM (GMT+7) in a hybrid format — online via Zoom and onsite at the Indonesia Room, 2nd Floor, Pusat Antar Universitas (PAU) Building, UGM.
The program was officially opened by the Director of CESASS UGM and Program Coordinator, Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati, S.Si., M.T., who also delivered welcoming remarks that included an overview on the summer course program. In her remarks, Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati, S.Si., M.T. expressed her appreciation to all the summer course speakers, who are colleagues from 12 countries: Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, China, Germany, Finland, Romania, Nigeria, the Netherlands, the United States, and Brazil. She also acknowledged the contributions of domestic colleagues from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), and Universitas Indonesia (UI). Appreciation was extended to the Directorate of Partnerships and Global Relations UGM for providing a grant that facilitated the successful organization of the summer course for the second consecutive year. The Faculty of Geography UGM was also recognized for its collaboration and support. The opening remarks were delivered by Prof. Muhammad Kamal, S.Si., M.GIS., Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty of Geography UGM, and Prof. Dr. Puji Astuti, S.Si., M.Sc., Director of Partnerships and Global Relations. Several speakers of the program were also present and had the opportunity to share a few words with the participants.
The program welcomed a total of 73 participants from 17 countries, consisting of 56 international participants and 17 local participants who participate both onsite and online. The participating countries included Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, China, Taiwan, India, Pakistan, Yemen, Jordan, Nigeria, Romania, and Brazil.
The opening ceremony concluded with a group photo session, marking the beginning of a series of activities to be held over the coming days. On the same day, two lecture sessions took place. The first session explored “Introduction to Smart City, Digital Transformation, and Society in Southeast Asia,” while the second session focused on “Understanding Cities and Identification of Problems (The Urgency of Smart City).” Both sessions were delivered by Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati, S.Si., M.T.
Writer: Mellyana Nungki Pramitha