The team from the Statistics Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA) Universitas Brawijaya (UB) consisting of Darmanto, S.Si., M.Si. (UB Statistics Lecturer), Diego Irsandy, S.Stat. (Student of Master of Statistics), and Zaki Abiyu (Student of Undergaduate of Statistics) won 3rd place in the scientific article competition in EJAVEC 2024 in the general category. EJAVEC 2024 carries the theme “Optimization of Leading Economic Sectors and Price Stabilization to Strengthen Resilience and Accelerate Economic Growth in East Java” This event is a form of collaboration between the Representative of Bank Indonesia, East Java Province together with the Faculty of Economics and Business, Airlangga University (FEB UNAIR) and ISEI Surabaya Branch, East Java Coordinator, which was held on October 23, 2024 at Airlangga University.
The competition began with a preliminary round held from March 2024 to July 2024. At that stage, participants were asked to submit papers with various available theme options. “We chose the Tourism sub-theme as one of the leading economic sectors in East Java. We propose a machine learning algorithm as a method of analyzing tourism sentiment in Banyuwangi. Thus, tourist sentiment can be known as the basis for policies for optimizing leading sectors,” said Diego.
The competition was quite tight considering that this competition had to select 106 scientific articles from various agencies, both government and private agencies. Then, on October 8, 2024, the 8 finalists for the best scientific articles were announced to present in the final round for the General Paper category and the Student Paper category. Furthermore, the final round was held on October 22, 2024 at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Airlangga University with the agenda of presenting the scientific articles of the finalists in front of 5 judges from various institutions. Then, on October 23, 2024 at the Westin Pakuwon Hotel, Surabaya, the winners were announced and they were able to win third place in this event.
Darmanto said, “We took the theme of tourism in Banyuwangi since Banyuwangi has a diverse and unique tourism sector, such as mountain tourism, marine beauty, and cultural tourism. We feel that tourism is one of the sectors that can grow the economy because with the many tourists, the restaurant, MSME, and lodging sectors will also be affected. Thus, optimizing the tourism sector is something that needs to be considered, such as paying attention to various reviews from tourists. By utilizing social media and machine learning algorithms, we are able to map out what elements need to be improved or optimized.” Darmanto and the team also delivered motivation for UB students who want to get involved in the paper competition. According to him, updating the latest news, being sensitive to current phenomena/issues, and good teamwork are tips for winning. [FMIPA/PON/UB PR/Trans. Iir]
