BusinessThink | Indonesia: Landmark panel shares exclusive insights on the digital economy

The UNSW Business School is to host BusinessThink | Indonesia, a landmark panel event in Jakarta.

BusinessThink | Indonesia will bring together Indonesia's top entrepreneurial leaders to share exclusive insights into innovation and the digital economy in Indonesia.

The discussion, moderated by Professor Nick Wailes, Associate Dean (Digital & Innovation), from UNSW Business School, will explore the way the consumer experience is being revolutionised by technology in Indonesia.

Professor Nick Wailes said “an understanding of emerging markets will position Indonesia’s new generation of digital entrepreneurs and startups to succeed not only in their local market but in the rapidly growing emerging markets in the ASEAN region.”

“Just look at GoJek for example - it has taken on Uber in its local market of Indonesia very successfully. This suggests that there might be limits to Silicon Valley’s quest for global domination of the sharing economy. It also underscores the continued importance of adjusting your business model to local market conditions even in a digital era.”

He said that Indonesian based startups, with strong local connections, mean they are much more successful in navigating the local regulatory environment. “These local operators have a vital understanding of the local market, and are able to get to scale more quickly than the digital giants who enter the market late,” he said.

All these issues will be explored at BusinessThink | Indonesia , from game-changing FinTech innovations, through to pioneering new markets, raising investment, and developing disruptive mobile solutions.

“The event will engage with stakeholders in Indonesia in order to build reputation and advance the School’s objectives, while promoting our high impact research and expertise in business,” he said.

The audience will also be invited to ask questions after the panel discussion in a Q&A session.

Dr Justin Lee, Deputy Head of Mission to Indonesia, DFAT, will give the welcome address.

A dynamic panel of male and female business leaders will discuss innovation and the digital economy in Indonesia:

• Noni Purnomo, President Director, Blue Bird Group
  Noni is currently the President Director of Blue Bird Group Holding, and manages the group’s business portfolio, which includes passenger land transportation (taxis, rental car & limousine, and charter bus), logistics, heavy equipment trading, property, and IT supporting services. A Business Woman, and Philanthropist, in 2015 she was listed in “Power Women in Asia” by Forbes.
• Moses Lo, CEO/Founder, Xendit
  He is founder and CEO of Xendit which challenges how modern finance works in a mobile, millennial-driven world by replacing antiquated payment rails with a free network of P2P payments between consumers. Now people can conduct commerce across the Indonesian archipelago instantly, for free. Xendit is the first Indonesian company to get into YCombinator and has raised funds from USA, Asian and Indonesian investors like Accel Partners and Goodwater Capital (Kakao Talk). He is a UNSW alumni (UNSW BCom 2010)
• Norman Sasono, Chief Innovation Officer, Bizzy
  Chief Innovation Officer of bizzy.co.id, Indonesia’s 1st B2B E-Commerce Platform, he leads Product Management, Engineering and Data Science. He started as a developer, and became Dev Lead, Architect, Principal Engineer and CTO. He also mentors various startups in several local incubators and programs like Founders Institute.
• Shinta Dhanuwardoyo, Founder & CEO of Bubu.com
  The founder of Bubu.com (she founded the company in 1996), she is one of the first internet companies in Indonesia which has been acknowledged by Red Herring as one of Asia’s Top 100 Most Innovative Companies. As Bubu’s CEO she spends some of her time mentoring and angel investing in a number of tech startups in Indonesia.
• Karina Akib, Strategic Partner Manager, Google
  Karina leads Channel Partnerships for Google Indonesia, supporting the growth of small-medium businesses and building the country's digital eco-system. Karina believes in using technology as a way to deliver sustainable economic growth and jobs. A UNSW alumni, she was a Co-op Scholar and completed a Bachelor of Commerce (Actuarial Studies, Finance).

BusinessThink | Indonesia takes place in the evening of Thursday 24 November 2016.

Media are invited to attend, but must confirm in advance when details of location and time will be given.

Media contacts:
Janine MacDonald: +61 2 9385 5895 | +61 478 492110 | j.macdonald@unsw.edu.au
Julian Lorkin: +61 2 9385 9887 | +61 405 805 365 | j.lorkin@unsw.edu.au