The student team from the Urban and Regional Planning study programme, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), consisting of Stefany Septiawati Nababan and Zefanya Yedija Hamonangan won 3rd place in the special category of Papedanomics 2024. The competition, held in Manokwari on 10-12 September 2024 by Bank Indonesia Representative of West Papua, ISEI West Papua, and SDGs Center of the University of Papua, brought together undergraduate students throughout Indonesia in a scientific writing event themed on creative and sustainable economic development in Papua.
With a paper titled ‘Revitalising Papua’s Coastal Areas through Intelligence Tourism and Aquaculture System (ITAS) to Support the Creative Economy of Local Communities’, Stefany and Zefanya caught the judges’ attention thanks to their innovative solution that aims to integrate the great potential of Papua’s coastal areas through digitalisation of the tourism and fisheries sectors.
Stefany, who hails from Jayapura City, Papua, shared her motivation for joining the competition. ‘As a child who grew up in the Papua Coastal Area for 20 years, I see a lot of potential that has not been optimised. So, I want to contribute through digitalisation solutions in the tourism and fisheries sectors of Papua,’ she said.
The innovation developed by Stefany and Zefanya is called Pigi Papua, a website-based digital platform and mobile application that offers two main services, namely Pigi Fish for the fisheries sector and Pigi Traveling for the tourism sector in Papua.
Pigi Fish has four main features, namely ‘Lapak Ikan’ (Fish Stall) which facilitates buying and selling fish and shipping; ‘Lapak Alat dan Pakan’ (Tool and Feed Stall) for fishing and fish farming equipment needs; ‘Kaspi’ which provides capital application and instalment services; and ‘Pigi Bisa’ which offers consultations for fishermen and farmers.
Meanwhile, Pigi Traveling offers ‘Accommodation and Transportation’ features for hotel and vehicle bookings; ‘Virtual Tour’ which presents virtual cultural and natural tourism tours; ‘Planning Activity’ for planning tour packages; and ‘AI-Powered Insight’ which provides travel recommendations based on the latest trends.
On the other hand, Zefanya revealed the challenges faced during the competition. “Dividing time between practical work and analysing data on Papua’s limited conditions is one of the main obstacles. But the spirit to contribute kept us going,” she said.
This competition is not only an achievement for the ITB team, but also a platform for them to inspire the development of Papua through technological innovation. Hopefully, this innovation can encourage the economic growth of coastal communities in Papua and introduce technology to local communities to manage resources more efficiently.
West Papua Now 