T

he ASEAN Community, launched at the end of 2015, is still very much in the making. Can innovations among the 10 Southeast Asian member countries help to smooth the process of bringing about closer integration?

Some 20 experts from diverse backgrounds will try to answer this question at an “unconference” in Bali on Oct. 28 to 29 organized by the Eisenhower Fellowships, the organizer said in a statement.

The “ASEAN Unity Through Changes and Innovation” will feature, among others, Indonesian National Development Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, Bank of Thailand Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob, Taiwanese computer and electronics maker Acer Inc. chairman Stan Shih and Whitman Strategy Group president Christine Todd Whitman.

These and the other 16 speakers are all alumni of the Eisenhower Fellowships, a program that offers leaders from various countries and different professions the chance to travel to the US to hone their leadership skills and widen their networks.

“ASEAN is a major initiative uniting nations in Southeast Asia,” said Svida Alisjahbana, the head of Eisenhower Fellowships Indonesia.

She noted that many fellows of the program now hold important public policy decision-making positions in Southeast Asian countries.

Up to 60 Indonesians have participated in the fellowship program over the past five decades. Many have become ministers or leaders of public and private organizations, such as Agung Laksono, Mari Pangestu and the late Nurcholish Madjid.

An “unconference” refers to a gathering that avoids some of the aspects of conventional conferences, such as fees, sponsored presentations and top-down organization.