The Launching of the Merdeka Campus at Bank Indonesia

On August 24, 2020, Bank Indonesia launched the Merdeka Campus Program at Bank Indonesia as part of Bank Indonesia’s vision to become the leading digital central bank that contributes significantly to the national economy for the advancement of Indonesia. BINUS UNIVERSITY is one of the seven selected universities to be involved in this pilot program that is aimed at developing human resources that are ready to undertake senior roles at Bank Indonesia in the future, and participate in the digital era of central banking.

The launching of the Merdeka Campus Program took place at Bank Indonesia and was attended by 800 attendees, including senior management figures from Bank Indonesia and the Ministry of Education. The pilot program involves BINUS UNIVERSITY, the University of Indonesia (UI), the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB), the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Padjadjaran University (Unpad), Gadjah Mada University (UGM) and Airlangga University (Unair). The course is designed for students from various departments to study at Bank Indonesia for a maximum of two semesters or the equivalent of 40 Semester Credit Units (SKS).

The Merdeka Campus Program is structured to take a holistic approach to the skills, attitudes and ethics of students in order to develop qualified human resource with the necessary soft skills and work experience in order to undertake professional roles in the field of central banking on graduation. It will be carried out continuously over three phases, namely (i) the pilot project phase (2020); (ii) the enhancement phase (2021); and (iii) the strengthening phase (2022).

In his remarks at the event, the Governor of Bank Indonesia – Perry Warjiyo said that the launch of the Merdeka Campus Program will strengthen cooperation between Bank Indonesia and universities in developing knowledge and not only in the form of policy theory but also in the form of practice. There are three main priorities of the program which are: (i) securing Bank Indonesia’s contribution to realizing the Government’s vision to build superior Indonesian human resources; (ii) to ensure that Bank Indonesia has the latest knowledge, especially in central banking and digital economics; (iii) strengthening the collaboration of the three parties involved; namely academics, business / private sector and the government as the key to producing superior human resources.

This innovative new platform provides a further opportunity for BINUS UNIVERSITY students to gain access to education that is geared towards their field of interest for their future careers and to gain unrivalled professional experience and industry exposure.