Bandung, Indonesia Sentinel — Telkom Indonesia, in collaboration with Telkom University, has officially launched the socialization of Innovillage 2025, marking the start of the sixth edition of the national-scale digital social innovation program that encourages Indonesian university students to develop sustainable technology-based solutions that address pressing social challenges in communities.
First introduced in 2020, Innovillage is a joint initiative between Telkom Indonesia and Telkom University that serves as a platform for nurturing student-driven digital social innovations across Indonesia. Through a socio-digital-preneurship approach, the program bridges academia, industry, and society, aiming to cultivate a generation of empathetic, collaborative, and solution-oriented digital innovators in line with the nation’s Indonesia Emas 2045 vision.
Aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Innovillage positions technology as a catalyst for real social change. Beyond developing students’ digital competencies, the program also instills human-centered values, collaboration, and social responsibility throughout the innovation process.
Over the past five years, Innovillage has engaged more than 6,000 students from hundreds of universities, producing thousands of innovative ideas and implementing hundreds of real-world projects. To date, the program has positively impacted over 29,700 beneficiaries across 28 provinces, making it one of Indonesia’s largest and most influential digital social innovation movements.
Hybrid Socialization: A Journey from Campus to Community
The Innovillage 2025 socialization event was held in a hybrid format from the Innovillage Studio at Telkom University, Bandung, and streamed live via Zoom and YouTube, drawing more than 900 participants from across Indonesia.
The event marked not only the opening of the annual program but also a moment of reflection on Innovillage’s long journey, a movement born from universities and dedicated to empowering communities through perseverance, collaboration, and shared purpose.
The session opened with a prayer and the national anthem, Indonesia Raya, followed by a video presentation highlighting Innovillage’s track record in driving student-led digital solutions across diverse social sectors.
Five National Strategic Issues and Three New Competition Schemes
Carrying the theme “Drive Innovation, Create Impact, Build a Lasting Future,” Innovillage 2025 embraces the spirit of “Digital for All, Digital Talent for Indonesia.”
This year’s program focuses on five national strategic issues:
- Food Security
- Health
- Women’s and MSME Empowerment
- Environment
- Disability Inclusion
In addition, Innovillage 2025 introduces three new competition schemes that emphasize cross-disciplinary collaboration, sustainable innovation, and alumni engagement through the Innovillage Impact Network (IIN), a growing community now consisting of more than 7,000 alumni from across the country.
Telkom and Telkom University Collaboration for Indonesia’s Digital Future
The Innovillage 2025 socialization event featured two keynote speakers:
- Suharsono, Senior Manager of SDGs – Social Responsibility Center, PT Telkom Indonesia
- Runik Machfiroh, Head of the SDGs Center, Telkom University
In his presentation, Suharsono emphasized that Innovillage serves as a collaborative platform to realize Telkom Indonesia’s CSR commitment focused on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Through collaboration with students and universities, we aim to foster socio-digital-preneurship as a solution to various social challenges in communities. In its sixth year, we hope Innovillage will create an even greater impact, address real-world issues, and advance Indonesia’s SDG agenda,” Suharsono said.
He added that over the past five years, the program has generated more than 800 innovations, benefiting over 20,000 people across different regions. This year’s focus areas, food security, health, women’s empowerment, environment, and disability inclusion were selected based on Indonesia’s SDG evaluation and national policy priorities.
Suharsono also called on students to actively participate in the movement.
“We invite students and lecturers from across Indonesia to join Innovillage. Conduct social mapping, identify problems in your surroundings, and design solutions. We will mentor and fund the best ideas to create real impact in communities,” he said.
Meanwhile, Runik Machfiroh, Head of the SDGs Center at Telkom University, emphasized that Innovillage serves as a tangible example of the “Merdeka Belajar–Kampus Merdeka” (Independent Learning–Independent Campus) initiative, creating real social impact across communities.
“Six years of Innovillage have proven that this initiative is more than just a program — it’s a movement for Indonesia’s progress. Students not only learn about technology but also cultivate social empathy and a strong sense of national identity,” Runik said.
She noted that over the past five years, the initiative has produced more than 2,000 digital works and 6,806 innovative products. This year, Innovillage aims to engage 130 universities, receive 1,000 proposals, and involve 3,000 participants, resulting in 180 prototypes ready for incubation and commercialization. Selected students will receive funding of up to Rp30 million, as well as publication rights, intellectual property protection, and free training in technology, AI, social media, and IT.
“Innovillage represents how students express their love for Indonesia, by becoming agents of change who accelerate the nation’s sustainable development goals,” Runik concluded.
Introducing and Tutorials of My Innovillage Platform
The event continued with an interactive Q&A session that drew enthusiastic participation from students representing various universities. Several attendees were also awarded door prizes from the organizers.
Following the session, Muhammad Ammar, a member of the Innovillage IT team, conducted a tutorial on navigating the Innovillage platform, which includes two main portals:
- innovillage.id — the central hub for program information and news
- my.innovillage.id — the primary system for registration, selection, and project implementation
Participants were guided through the registration process, selection stages, and the online pitching, monitoring, and evaluation phases that form part of the competition framework.
Introducing the Innovillage Impact Network (IIN)
The next session featured Hilda Aulya Zahra, Innovillage 2024 alumna and Secretary General II of the Innovillage Impact Network (IIN). In her presentation, Hilda showcased a video chronicling IIN’s journey and highlighted the success story of “Green Circle”, a project initiated by Politeknik Negeri Medan. The project created a digital waste bank designed to optimize organic and inorganic waste management, aligning with SDG Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.
The initiative successfully encouraged 78% active community participation, converted compost into maggot feed, and redistributed inorganic waste to local small businesses for recycling into new products.
“IIN is a journey of change, a space to learn, collaborate, and make an impact,” Hilda said. “Never hesitate to start; every great innovation begins with good intentions and the courage to take action.”
The session concluded with a lighthearted Q&A and the distribution of door prizes to the most active participants.
Registration Officially Opens
Registration for Innovillage 2025 is now officially open from October 21 to November 10, 2025, via www.innovillage.id.
This year’s program will unfold through several key stages:
- Proposal Registration
- Competition Selection
- Winner Announcement
- Project Implementation
- Monitoring & Evaluation (Monev) and Online Pitching
- Awarding
- Sustainability Phase
Building Indonesia’s Next Generation of Digital Innovators
Carrying the spirit of “Drive Innovation, Create Impact, Build a Lasting Future,” Telkom Indonesia aims for Innovillage 2025 to become a catalyst for nurturing a generation of young Indonesians who are creative, collaborative, and socially conscious. The initiative seeks to inspire youth who not only understand technology but can also harness it as a powerful tool to shape the nation’s future through meaningful, community-driven innovation.
For more information:
🌐 www.innovillage.id
📞 Contact Center Innovillage: +62-822-1985-8941
