BANDUNG, mot.sbm-itb.ac.id — Management of Technology Laboratory, School of Business and Management (MoT Lab SBM-ITB) held first internship collaborating with agro-technology startup BIOPS Agrotekno. The internship was attended by four MBA-ITB students for two months, from June to July 2021. The students are Mohammad Iqbal Ibrahim, Muhammad Nabil Ulwan, Nisaul Hasanah, and Yoel Iman.
The internship was part of the implementation living lab concept. The laboratory activities are not limited to campus territory and make real-life in society a lab with its problems solved. The living lab involved the students by giving them direct experience to interact with the community. MoT Lab ran this concept collaborated with a startup, BIOPS Agrotekno.
In this internship, the students identified opportunities for technology penetration in the agriculture sector in Northern and Southern Bandung, also opportunities for its business development. The agricultural technology here was an IoT-based automated plant watering system that a smartphone could control. The students helped BIOPS understand the characteristics of the farmers, the type of the plants, and the plant system in the observed territories. Then they tried to understand their problems related to its watering system and prove that BIOPS products can be a solution.
(source : biweekly report from the interns)
After understanding the characteristics of farmers, type of plants, and farming system in the field trip, the students recommended the marketing side for the BIOPS products in the future. They analyzed how BIOPS products can be used by owners of the farm around Bandung city then using social media platforms. “This internship was focused on the marketing side by looking for and meeting the farm owners around Bandung city by using social media platforms. Then we will contact, make the meeting, and analyze data to take actions“, said Yoel Iman, one of the interns.
(source : biweekly report from the interns)
The findings obtained from this internship were then reported by the students in the biweekly discussion (progress meeting). The session was moderated by Dr.rer.pol. Eko Agus Prasetio and Dedy Sushandoyo, Ph.D., as an academic advisor. BIOPS teams were also involved in the discussion as field advisors to monitor the progress and result of the internship for the future BIOPS.
The internship was started with students’ registration to MoT Lab then the lab members gave an introduction and briefing. Then, the students did a field visit that consist of observation, interviewing, and introducing products. The output of the internship is a report whose chapters related to the process of apprenticeship from the beginning to the end, analysis, and recommendation for BIOPS as an industrial practitioner and ITB from the academics perspective.
An internship student, Yoel Iman, in an interview, said that the internship was interesting because there was an opportunity to meet new people and also to get a unique insight into the agriculture sector. “The interesting thing from this internship was the ability to meet many new people, and also we got new insight related to the agriculture sector,” he said.
—————————————————————————————————————————–
This event also reported by several national medias :
Republika online https://www.republika.co.id/berita/qxqbmg349/mot-lab-sbm-itb-buat-program-magang-bantu-petani
Bisnis Muda id https://bisnismuda.id/read/4068-don-cuan/kolaborasi-sbm-itb-startup-agro-petani-untuk-percepatan-teknologi-agro
Pikiran Rakyat printed version 13 August 2021