The graduation ceremony was held virtually. Yang Bin, Vice President and Provost of Tsinghua University, said in an address that the Happy Digital X program had offered an exceptional learning experience. It had empowered participants to create a future of holistic happiness aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals by engaging in real-world projects.

“As an important component of Tsinghua University’s Global Strategy, the Tsinghua Southeast Asia Center is dedicated to building a platform for cooperation and exchange between China, Southeast Asian countries and beyond. It is our sincere hope that this meaningful step and our joint efforts will continue to produce outcomes toward building a more sustainable world, in facing ever-changing and transformative challenges, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing recovery efforts,” he said. Yang Bin also expected global efforts to build a more sustainable, equitable and resilient future.

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir expressed hope that all HDX program graduates would be able to master information technology to accelerate the handling of the national economic recovery. They were also expected to be able to implement the theories and subjects learned to help the country remain resilient and grow.  

Indonesia, he said, had opened access to anyone who wanted to build intensive collaboration, for example, by building cooperation to create a city planning system to bring happiness to residents.  

The Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim congratulated the graduates of the inaugural HDX program. He expressed hope that the participants would be able to play an active role in various programs run by the Indonesian government.

"And all these challenges must be answered with what the graduates get. We happen to have the Emancipated  Learning program as a learning program that is able to connect happiness between teachers and students. Now, this collaboration must be strengthened to build the country," he said.

As the Lead Advisor of the HDX Program, Professor Edward Crawley, MIT’s Ford Professor of Engineering and Honorary Professor at Tsinghua University, in his remarks said, “I’m really impressed by the diversity of experiences of the people involved in the program. This institution was founded in order to address the existential issues of our time: poverty, unhappiness, climate change. The program itself represents a convocation — a coming together — and on its graduation we have shown that we can come together to learn, co-create and bring technology and society together to address these issues for our common future.”

Indonesian and Southeast Asian cities are going through a digital transformation. How cities function, how people work, interact and transact is changing rapidly. Happy Digital X is therefore a call to action. The HDX Program is an online professional education program of the Tsinghua Southeast Asia Center (Tsinghua SEA) at the UID Bali Campus, Indonesia, co-hosted by Tsinghua University’s Shenzhen International Graduate School. Led by Professor Edward Crawley, the faculty hails from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tsinghua University, Institut Teknologi Bandung, New York University, the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, the Presencing Institute, and other institutions.

The HDX Program delivers a four-month, practice-focused professional education program to strengthen the capabilities of practitioners in developing happy, sustainable cities through the successful implementation of ICT. Participants in the first intake came from various government institutions, business sectors, universities and civil society organizations from Indonesia, Southeast Asian and European countries.

“The Happy Digital X program has given us an amazing learning opportunity to inspire us in developing a digital transformation in our culture for well-being,” said Tuti Ruswati, Head of the Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) for Sumedang regency. “Hopefully, we can accelerate and optimize services for the public welfare in building a sustainable happy future for all.”

“The program was an eye-opener and mind-opener for me,” said Dr. Tit Meng Lim, CEO of Science Centre Singapore. “As a scientist, I have been trained to be analytical with a rather reductionist approach to testing hypotheses, but dealing with the complexity of systems in the real world will require a different set of skills, tools and methodologies with systematic thinking.”

In the end there are seven groups of Challenge Project Works in areas of poverty alleviation, welfare improvement, sustainable supply-chain, farm-to-table food distribution and community waste management programs. Designed to reflect happiness and sustainability, ICT transformation and local projects with global impacts, these projects capture real stakeholders’ needs from Sumedang regency, Foodhall Indonesia, Pasar Rakyat Bali and Plastic Exchange Bali. The bookends of the program are designed to contribute to the post-pandemic economic recovery. Participants applied principles, skills and tools learned on real complex challenges involving real stakeholders.

Just as Tsinghua University President QIU Yong predicted in his speech for the opening ceremony of the HDX program in April, the HDX program has offered a fantastic learning experience to all the participants, helping them become transformative leaders in the post-pandemic digital era. It is a good example of Tsinghua’s global efforts to make contributions to our common sustainable future. Tsinghua will remain dedicated and committed to the pursuit of excellence and innovation and to the sustainable development of the world.

Tsinghua SEA, as a critical step in the Global Strategy of Tsinghua University working together with the United In Diversity (UID) Foundation, serves as an important platform for the UN’s SDGs and focuses on talent development, academic exchange and cooperation throughout Southeast Asia and around the world.

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