Bringing Together Practitioners and Academics, Unsri Campus Organizes PKM Activities as Part of a Workshop Series

In response to the trend of online classes, Sriwijaya University, a public institution of higher education in South Sumatra, organized a series of Community Service (PKM) activities, specifically a workshop held at The Alts Hotel in Palembang on Wednesday (September 29).

The PKM team, consisting of Sriwijaya University faculty members, initiated a workshop titled “Strategies for Increasing Alumni Employment in Industry as a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for Higher Education Institutions During the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

PKM Chair Deris Stiawan, M.T., Ph.D., explained that by inviting practitioners and academics from various universities in Palembang, the event was also conducted in collaboration with the UNSRI Career Development Center (CDC).

He noted that as part of the event, UNSRI had also organized a Virtual Job Fair aimed at increasing employment rates for university graduates.

“We hope this community service initiative will serve as a starting point for fostering collaboration with various stakeholders to ensure the success of the Career Expo, which is scheduled to take place in October 2021,” said Deris.

He explained that this collaboration and synergy support interaction between the industry and university graduates throughout the pandemic, particularly in the regions of South Sumatra, Bangka
Belitung, Lampung, and Bengkulu.

“Given the importance of career expos for job
placement, Sriwijaya University is collaborating with the Indonesia Career Center Network (ICCN) and several other parties to organize a virtual event that brings together the business world and the university’s top alumni, while strictly adhering to health protocols during the pandemic,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of the UNSRI CDC, Dr. Meilinda, M.Pd., explained in her remarks that this Community Service (PKM) initiative is part of an integrated service program that applies science and technology based on community needs, particularly the career centers and student affairs offices of public and private universities in the South Sumatra region.

“The idea for this service initiative arose from the problem of low employment rates
among recent graduates from universities across Indonesia, particularly in the South Sumatra region,” she said.

He explained that the first point of the University Performance Indicators (IKU) standard—graduate
employability—is measured by the percentage of bachelor’s (S1), D4, D3, and D2 graduates who successfully secure employment, pursue further studies, or become entrepreneurs, with the employment criterion defined as earning a salary of 1. 2 times the Regional Minimum Wage (UMR) at private companies, nonprofit organizations, bilateral institutions, government agencies, or State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN)/Regionally-Owned Enterprises (BUMD).

“This community service workshop was attended by 71 participants
from various career centers at public and private universities within the LLDIKTI II region,” he explained.

According to him, the existence of this integrated PKM scheme helps career centers coordinate with one another and share solutions to the problems faced by career centers and student affairs offices, which will ultimately improve university accreditation based on University Performance Indicators.

At the same event, Ahmad Heryanto, M.T., a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science and a cybersecurity researcher at UNSRI, explained that in the internet age, cyberattacks have become a serious threat and continue to evolve in various forms.

“Malware, such as viruses, Trojans, ransomware, and bots, has been used by threat actors as weapons in launching cyberattacks against victims. Malware poses a significant threat that makes computer security more vulnerable,” he explained.

He noted that in 2020, the Faculty of Computer Science at Sriwijaya University developed
a cyberattack defense tool based on Small Board Computer Network Security Appliances; this tool has been granted a copyright with application
number EC00202050074 and was officially registered on November 16, 2020. “This tool is the result of research that has been underway since 2015,” he explained.

Ahmad Heryanto added that the research project has resulted in various publications in conference proceedings and journals indexed by SINTA, Scopus (Q1–Q4), and WOS, as well as an industrial prototype of a Network Security Appliance.

“The Small Board Computer (SBC) enables individuals to obtain a device that is affordable, portable,
and energy-efficient,” he added.

He further stated that the IDS/IPS is also expected to create a system that is more selective and
responsive in distinguishing between normal traffic and malicious traffic, while simultaneously ensuring resource efficiency.

“So that these network security appliance prototypes can be recognized and utilized by the public to
secure computer networks from cyberattack threats,” he said.

Meanwhile, Virtual and Augmented Reality Researcher Pacu Putra,
B.CS., M.CS., added that the event also featured various demonstrations of augmented reality applications in real estate marketing
, its use as an educational tool, the use of virtual reality in museum tours, and more.

In addition, the team also demonstrated how to create a virtual tour using a tool called Theasys. “By using Theasys, participants in this community service event are expected to be able to create virtual reality experiences easily, so that the results of this event can be applied
in their respective environments,” he summarized.

It is known that the participants attending the event came from the private sector and government agencies in South Sumatra, such as PT. Pusri
, PT. Semen Baturaja, PT. Bank Sumsel Babel, the South Sumatra Communication and Information Agency (Diskominfo Sumsel), PT. PLN, the Ogan Ilir Regency Communication and Information Agency (Diskominfo Kabupaten Ogan Ilir), as well as several SMEs and startups in the city of Palembang. (Rill).