Yogyakarta, January 29, 2026 – Dr. Andri Prima Nugroho, Lecturer and Researcher at the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), participated as a speaker in the “Meet & Greet: AI-Based Innovators & Researchers” forum held by UGM on Thursday (January 29). The event took place at Multimedia Room I, UGM Central Office, 3rd Floor, North Wing, and served as a strategic platform to strengthen interdisciplinary Artificial Intelligence (AI) research collaboration within UGM.
Strengthening Interdisciplinary AI Research at UGM
The Meet & Greet: AI-Based Innovators & Researchers forum is highly relevant amid the rapid advancement of digital technologies and artificial intelligence, which continue to drive transformation across sectors, including higher education. UGM is committed to leveraging AI to enhance operational efficiency, improve academic services, and strengthen institutional competitiveness as a world-class research university.
This forum also aims to bridge the strong interest of non-technical researchers in AI applications with access to expertise and supporting infrastructure, as identified in the UGM Digital Transformation Bureau Internal Survey (2024).
Keynote Session and Expert Knowledge Sharing
The event opened with a keynote presentation by Dr. Mardhani Riasetiawan on “Updates on AI Innovation Partnerships with NVIDIA, Indosat, Telkom, and Indomobil.” The presentation highlighted the importance of strategic collaboration between universities and industry partners in building a sustainable AI innovation ecosystem.
Following the keynote, Dr. Andri Prima Nugroho, together with Dr. Dian K. Nurputra, Ph.D., M.Sc., SpA, Subsp Neuro (K) and Dr. rer. nat. Wiwit Suryanto, S.Si., M.Si., shared insights and experiences related to AI implementation within their respective fields.
Artificial Intelligence as the Core of Contextual Smart Farming
In his presentation, Dr. Andri emphasized that modern agricultural challenges are complex and characterized by high uncertainty, making them difficult to address through conventional digitalization alone, such as sensors and dashboards. Artificial Intelligence (AI) was positioned as the core of true Smart Farming, as it enables the transformation of data into knowledge, recommendations, and adaptive decision-making actions.
He further highlighted that AI implementation in agriculture must be contextual and locally adapted to Indonesia’s tropical agroecosystems. The development of Smart Farming solutions should involve cross-disciplinary collaboration among researchers, technologists, government institutions, industry, and agricultural stakeholders. The session also showcased examples of ongoing Smart Farming research and implementation, as well as future development directions through the integration of NVIDIA-based multimodal AI technologies to support real-time agricultural intelligence.
Interactive Discussion and AI Innovation Ecosystem Development
The interactive discussion session was dynamic and productive, generating various ideas and potential research collaborations. Key discussion points included the importance of interdisciplinary AI research, ranging from AI applications in genomics and drone-based detection of oil palm diseases to the development of cloud computing infrastructure.
The forum also explored strategies to strengthen UGM’s AI innovation ecosystem through partnerships with industry and by engaging students in competitions and thematic Capstone Projects, aimed at delivering practical solutions across multiple sectors, including Smart Farming.
UGM’s Commitment to a World-Class Research University
Through the Meet & Greet: AI-Based Innovators & Researchers forum, UGM aims to stimulate innovative AI-based research initiatives that support digital transformation and align with UGM’s vision of becoming a world-class, excellent, and innovative research university.
