The UGM team, Sawah Kita (Our Paddyfields), has become the second winner in the Business Idea Competition – FIF Group 2016 – organised in Kelapa Gading area, Jakarta, on 28 October 2016. The UGM team proposed the business idea on application system that gives a platform to connect investors with farmers.
It was Suryo Prakoso Putra and Salahuddin al Ayub, students of Information Technology at Faculty of Engineering UGM developing the app system after competing with 167 teams from other Indonesian universities.
Suryo said participants were asked to propose business ideas that are applicable, profitable and beneficial to society. Of all 168 teams, best 25 were selected to attend the finals in Jakarta. For three days they were given the knowledge in economic and business practices through seminars and workshops. Later, best 8 teams were selected to the final.
“Obviously, we were excited and proud that the UGM team has won the competition,” said Suryo on Wednesday (2/11) on campus.
The Sawah Kita team was entitled to receive work funding as much as IDR40 m. Also in this competition, another UGM team, Fantastico, became the third winner and received prizes in cash worth IDR5 m.
Suryo explained that in this competition they submitted the investment program development based on community empowerment through agricultural cultivation, particularly rice.
The app system stemmed from the concerns that the rice imports in the country has increased from year to year. The local production has yet to meet the natioanl demands.
“Hence, we were trying to develop an application system that not only gives profits for investment, but also generates the economy of farmers,” he said.