Diponegoro University (UNDIP), through the Office of Research Downstreaming and Business Incubation (KHIB) and the Directorate of Innovation and Cooperation, held a strategic forum titled “Transformative Entrepreneurship Strategies for Upgrading MSMEs” at DIPO HUB, Semarang. This event is a crucial momentum to integrate the role of higher education with national policies in building a sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Director of Innovation and Cooperation at UNDIP, Dr. Dian Harjanti, emphasized that the campus possesses great potential in the form of innovations from researchers and students. Through this forum, UNDIP is committed to ensuring that research findings do not merely end up as academic works, but are transformed into startups and economically valuable products that make a real impact on the wider community.
Deputy for Micro Enterprises at the Ministry of MSMEs, Riza Damanik, outlined the government's priorities leading up to 2026, which include standardizing incubation operations, strengthening information systems through the SAPA UMKM platform, and ranking incubator institutions. To date, 754 incubators have been registered across Indonesia as economic drivers providing assistance from the selection stage to market access.
Acting Head of the Central Java Cooperative and MSME Department, Desy Arijani, also highlighted the importance of pentahelix collaboration. According to her, the empowerment of MSMEs must be carried out holistically, covering aspects of legality, digitalization, access to financing, and adaptive marketing strategies amidst modern market dynamics.
The forum, attended by 40 business incubator representatives from all over Central Java, is expected to strengthen synergy between institutions. With policy support from the Ministry of MSMEs and a mature research ecosystem from UNDIP, it is hoped that more resilient entrepreneurs will emerge, capable of competing at national and global levels.
