Problem-solving workshop showcases multidisciplinary approach

For many careers, it is vital to demonstrate collaboration skills and teamwork.
For many careers, it is vital to demonstrate collaboration skills and teamwork.

High school students considering careers of the future recently attended a problem-solving workshop, held in Jakarta, featuring a careers advisor and journalist from Jurusanku.

Speakers at the half-day event included two academics from UTS - Dr David Bond and Dr Wayne Brookes - as well as Ina Liem, CEO and Founder of Jurusanku.

Participants were asked to consider their future careers and were shown how to use a multidisciplinary approach when solving problems.

The importance of entrepreneurial thinking

“The ability to solve problems is essential for the young generation – to show innovation to solve issues. We must innovate or enhance services because we have entered into an innovation economy. We must continue to innovate like an entrepreneur to survive in today's world,” said Ina Liem.

“Many students who want to become entrepreneurs do not yet know what goals and problems they want to overcome. At UTS, entrepreneurship subjects allow students to be creative in every major. Entrepreneurship is also born from collaboration, diverse backgrounds, and new ways of thinking.” said Ms Liem.

Collaborative skills in demand

Dr David Bond, Senior Lecturer from UTS Business School said, "Many opportunities will arise, so collaboration from a variety of sciences is also needed. Data development lets us know what is happening in the industry today and is essential for business. The most important thing is knowing how to use data and make decisions about it to have a positive impact on others.”

“For many careers, it is vital to demonstrate collaboration skills and teamwork. UTS Business School applies approaches that focus on the community and encourage thinking in a structured way – finding problems and finding solutions, prototyping and testing with users and stakeholders – as well as gradually implementing and improving solutions," said Dr Bond.

Enthusiastic response

The workshop linked several priorities the Indonesian Government has identified in its Working Plan 2020, including prioritising human resource development, job opportunities, and infrastructure improvement. The enthusiastic response to the workshop sparked many elaborations of new ideas from various disciplinary perspectives, such as new regulatory arrangements, Smart City, and branding.

Emerging technologies are expected to create more than 133 million new jobs across multiple industries. From virtual reality engineers to drone traffic managers, new career paths will require a combination of technical expertise and broader 21st century skills, including creativity, critical thinking and interpersonal communication.

“Students who can learn to make society to be a better place, combining technical expertise with 21st century skills (such as problem solving with multiple solutions) should be well positioned for careers of the future. They should come up with multiple solutions from diverse backgrounds by implementing, reinventing, and recommencing ideas,” said Dr Wayne Brookes, Deputy Head of School - Teaching & Learning from the UTS Faculty of Engineering and IT.