Wednesday, 25 October 2023 – International Conference Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA), Colloquium, and Call for Papers activities were held with the theme “Artificial Intelligence and Digitalization in ASEAN MSMEs and Contribution to Global Value Chain” organized by the Management Study Program, Faculty of Economics and Business Jenderal Soedirman University in collaboration with the Bank Indonesia Purwokerto Representative Office. This year, this activity was carried out in a hybrid manner, namely offline at the Ballroom of the Java Heritage Hotel Purwokerto and via zoom meetings. With around 250 participants attending the seminar. SCA presented four main speakers, namely Prof. Ts. Dr. Aidi Ahmi (Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz School of Accountancy, Universiti Utara Malaysia), Prof. Rautakivi Tuomo (Arcada University, Finland), Assoc. Prof. C. James Chou (National Yunlin University of Science and Technology Taiwan), and Prof. Ir. Wayan Firdaus Mahmudy, S.Sc., M.T., Ph.D. (Brawijaya University Malang).

The event was opened by Prof. Dr. Ir. Akhmad Sodiq as Chancellor of Jenderal Soedirman University and continued with the delivery of a keynote speech from Mrs Mirza Yuniar Isnaeni as Executive of Analyse of Bank Indonesia Institute and Prof. Dr. Luthfiyah Nurlaela, M. Pd as Head of the Agency for Human Resources Development and Empowerment of Ministry of Village Communities, Disadvantaged Areas and Transmigration, with the theme “Digital Transformation in Village Economic Development”. This was followed by the presentation of material by the speakers, the first speaker was Prof. Ts. Dr. Aidi Ahmi conveyed In the age of digital transformation AI is not just a buzzword it’s a fundamental driver of business success. Artificial Intelligence is reshaping industries, revolutionizing customer experiences, and redefining how organizations make decisions. In this era of data-driven decision-making, understanding AI is not just an advantage but a necessity for businesses to stay competitive.

This was followed by the delivery of material by the second speaker, Prof. Rautakivi Tuomo delivered that Digitalization improves business performance in the perspective of ASEAN and the European Union, building a dynamic digital economy and society by laying the foundation for promoting digital adoption and transformation across all social actors including countries, citizens, and the business world, thereby accelerating new economic growth and promoting social prosperity in the new normal period. The third speaker was Assoc. Prof. C. James Chou conveyed how we can speed up the process of adoption and technology in micro businesses, and there are several factors that can encourage adoption and technology so that it is hoped that the quality of output produced by businesses with technology can be better.

The last speaker was Prof. Ir. Wayan Firdaus Mahmudy, S.Sc., M.T., Ph.D. explained that AI is developing rapidly along with the development of computer technology which allows humans to process large data in a relatively fast time. Increasing AI capabilities allows AI to play an important role in helping humans in various aspects. The use of AI for MSMEs can provide many benefits in various aspects of business operations, such as increasing operational efficiency, data analysis for better decision making, simplifying business processes, and increasing product and service innovation. The next activity was the presentation of research results in the form of a call for papers and colloquium which was attended by participants from researchers, academics and from various institutions.