Ronny Adhikarya is 2022 AMIC Asia Communication Laureate

THE Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) announced the selection of Dr. Ronny Adhikarya as recipient of the 2022 AMIC Asia Communication Award for Transformative Leadership. 

It said the award is given to individuals who have made “significant contributions to Asian communication.” 

Dr. Adhikarya has a Master of Professional Studies degree from Cornell University’s Department of Communication Arts, and a PhD from Stanford University’s Institute for Communication Research. He has had a 50-year career in international development assistance, specializing in communication, education and training.

He worked as  Senior Trainer and Manager at the World Bank in Washington D.C., USA, and  as Country Director at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Italy and Islamabad, Pakistan. He also worked for other international organizations worldwide, undertaking official Missions in 52 countries, and visiting 103 countries.

He was associated with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Stanford University, East-West Center, and other universities in many countries.

He is often invited as keynote speaker at international conferences, and has given public lectures in at least 28 countries from 2005 to 2022.  

His wide- ranging topics include challenges of digital disruption, Artificial Intelligence-technology-based applications, and its impact on education, business (including start-ups), shared economy, virtual education and communication, tacit knowledge brokering, edupreneurship, generational conflicts, and societal and cultural cohesion.

Originally from Indonesia, Dr. Adhikarya was an Award-winning Journalist for Daily Indonesia Raya (1968-1971). He has written 8 books on communication, education and training, published in Germany, Italy, England, USA, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia, and many other publications. These books are available in English, Spanish, French, Indonesian, Malaysian, and Chinese languages.

He moved in 2021 from the “Silicon Valley” of California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Hawaii-Indonesia Chamber of Commerce (HICHAM), and the Executive Board of the East-West Center Association (EWCA).

He has served various advisory boards and committees of international development organizations in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia,  England, Switzerland, and the USA.

 He established the R-Adhikarya “Niche” Awards (RANA) at the East-West Center (EWC), Stanford University and Cornell University. The annual RANA Program Scholarship rewards and recognizes smart, innovative, and competitive young students who wish to pursue their dreams to learn, explore, and apply disruptive ideas, and “niche” innovative thinking, in their studies and future careers.

The AMIC is an international non-government organization (NGO) committed to communication media development in the Asia Pacific region.   It promotes an ethical and socially responsible communication media sector committed to the tenets of freedom and democracy in a socio‐culturally diverse region.

AMIC hosts Dialogue on Commonalities, Diversities, and Complexities of Asian and Western Communication Theories

Over 200 communication scholars and educators joined the online Dialogue on Commonalities, Diversities, and Complexities of Asian and Western Communication Theories hosted by the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre, Inc. (AMIC) last 26 January.

Resource persons at the webinar were Dr. Wimal Dissanayake, 2021 AMIC Asia Communication awardee and editor of the book 

Communication Theory: The Asian Perspective; Dr. Yoshitaka Miike, professor at the Department of Communication of the University of Hawaii at Hilo;  and Dr. Mark Deuze, professor of media studies at the University of Amsterdam.

Dr. Crispin C. Maslog, Chair, AMIC Board of Directors, said “it is time we de-colonize Asian communication scholarship,” pointing as an example the shared values between Filipino and American-Indian culture — strong family ties, respect for the elderly, humility, and debt of gratitude.

Maslog, who has taught at an US Indian reservation college, said Native American style of communication “resembles the traditional way of communication among Filipinos long before the Americans and other Westerners came.”

In his statement read by AMIC Secretary-General Ramon R. Tuazon, Dissanayake focused on the relationship between globalization and Asian communication theory. “One important aspect of globalization is the sharing of cultural riches by Eastern countries with Western countries.”

He said it is important to study “Asian communication sharing knowledge with Western countries.”

Deuze prompted participants to take a closer look at whether technology is a tool or a crutch “to further the autonomy of people as communities.” He encouraged scholars and journalists to produce stories “that connect and unite peoples without requiring them to become all the same.”

Miike said, “too much focus is given to mass media, communication technology and development communication in Asian schools of communication,” that even interpersonal and intercultural communication “are not flourishing, not to mention communication ethics and environmental communication.”

 In his closing remarks, Dr. Dadang Rahmat Hidayat, Dean, School of Communication, Universitas Padjadjaran (UNPAD), invited participants to the 29^th AMIC Annual Conference, in which UNPAD is institutional co-host.

School of Communication Arts, STOU leads the digital media and pedagogy for SDG : Goal 4 in ASEAN OU Five Member Universities

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU), Thailand, hosted last November the OU Five Academia and Policy forum among all OU Five Member Universities: University of the Philippines Open University, Universitas Terbuka,  Open University of Indonesia, the Open University of Malaysia, and the Hanoi Open University.

They signed an MOU for the research collaboration among them.  School of Communication Arts led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kamolrat Intaratat has contributed to drawing up the policy on  “How digital media can be used to facilitate all kinds of Innovative Pedagogies under the OU Five Universities and SDGs Frameworks”.

Last February, School of Communication Arts, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU), led by its Dean, Dr. Kan Bunsiri,  kicked off its first-ever Micro Credential Academy/the Modular Academy for Inclusive Education for All, using digital media blended with all kinds of appropriate pedagogies to serve as alternative education for all.

The first academy is “Digital Citizen” which is accredited by the university itself and also the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, Thailand. All qualified learners could be certified in the University Credit Bank system under its core philosophy of life-long learning and inclusive education for all.

STOU is an institutional member of AMIC.

Binod Agrawal (+)

AMIC Issues Call for Papers for 29th Annual Conference

THE Asian Media Information and Communication Centre, Inc. (AMIC) is now accepting abstracts for parallel sessions in the 29^th AMIC Annual Conference which will be held on 28-30 September in Bandung, Indonesia. 

The theme of the conference is Talk ASAP: Africa-Asia Pacific Dialogue on Communication Issues. The three-day hybrid event is expected to bring together scholars from Africa and Asia Pacific to tackle pressing issues affecting the communication and media practice in these continents. 

AMIC Secretary-General Ramon R. Tuazon said that initially, parallel sessions themes will focus on communication theories and research paradigms; digital research, regulation, and inter-platform relations; media communication; mobile technology in science, health, and agricultural communication; media and information literacy; integrated marketing communication (including public relations and advertising); new technologies and journalism practices; digital technology and human relations; and digitally-enabled pathways to education. 

“We invite interested communication and media scholars and practitioners from Africa and Asia Pacific to prepare and submit their abstracts by 28 June,” he said. “The conference will be an interesting convergence of ideas, best practices, and recent researches on communication and media that will be of great significance to participants from all over the world.” 

The abstracts must be written in English and should not exceed 350 words. Deadline for submission of abstracts is on 28 June 2023. 

“The abstracts must strictly be submitted to AMIC via the Abstract Submission Form. Abstracts and papers sent to the personal e-mail addresses of conference organizers and AMIC officers will not be entertained,” Tuazon added. 

An expert panel of reviewers will evaluate the abstracts and only those that have passed stringent criteria will be allowed to present in the parallel sessions during the international conference. “Interested communication professionals, educators, researchers, and media practitioners may visit this link on our website, https://amic.asia/call-for-papers-29th-amic-annual-conference/ to download the guidelines on the submission of abstracts,” Tuazon said. (END)