(11/5) The Department of Urban and Regional Planning (URP) Undip together with the Semarang City Government, Brisbane City Council, and The University of Queensland (The UQ) hosted a webinar with the title “Smart City Development in Brisbane and Semarang”. This webinar activity is a continuation of the seminar series held to commemorate the sister-city cooperation between Semarang City and Brisbane City which has been going on for 30 years.
In this webinar, Ms. Susie Clowes from the Asia Pacific City Summit and Ir. Iswar Aminuddin, M.T from the Secretary Government of Semarang City are the speakers who will present the topic about the implementation and development of smart city programs in Semarang and Brisbane. As discussants, Dr. Fred Fialho Teixeira from the School of Architecture, The University of Queensland was appointed along with Prof. Dr.rer.nat. Imam Buchori, S.T from the Department of URP Universitas Diponegoro directed the discussion at the event which was moderated by A/Prof. Sonia Roitman from the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland.
Ir. Hj. Hevearita Gunaryanti Rahayu, M.Sos, Semarang City Major who at that time was represented by Drs. Muhammad Khadhik, M.Si, delivered the opening remarks in this webinar. In her remarks, she hoped that this seminar series could be a medium for mutual learning and sharing knowledge for both parties in order to develop both cities into strong and resilient smart cities. “I hoped, we can share experiences to make both Semarang and Brisbane become strong and resilient smart cities.”
In addition, Prof. Ambariyanto, the Vice-Rector for Research, Innovation, and Cooperation Affairs of Undip also expressed his gratitude towards the Semarang City Government and Brisbane City Council for the opportunity given to the higher education institution such as Universitas Diponegoro to collaborate together in solving existing urban problems. “Thank you for initiating this collaboration. Hopefully, in the future, we can benefit each other,” Prof. Ambar said.
Prof. Deborah Terry, AO, Vice-Chancellor and President of The University of Queensland, also expressed her pride as an educational institution that joined the City of Brisbane in discussing about urban planning with their Indonesian partners. “The UQ (The University of Queensland) has a global perspective to build the world. Through this collaboration with the Indonesian partners, we hope that this moment can be an opportunity to share knowledge,” she said.
This seminar series was held three times. Where in the first seminar, the topic was disaster management. And in the second seminar, the topic was urban growth and housing. This webinar was held as the closing series of this seminar series.
