World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development 2026 Officially Launched as Indonesia Hosts Event
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — Indonesia has been named host of the World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development (WED) 2026. The event is expected to serve as a forum to raise social recognition for engineers and to boost their role in sustainable development in Indonesia and worldwide.
The President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), Er. Seng Chuan Tan, said his organisation is proud to organise WED 2026 in collaboration with the Persatuan Insinyur Indonesia (PII). Through WED 2026, WFEO will share various insights alongside Indonesian researchers.
On this occasion, Seng Chuan Tan announced the two main pillars: the World Academy of Engineering and the WFEO Institute. He said the World Academy of Engineering aims to gather various kinds of research and the world’s top researchers under WFEO’s umbrella. This pillar also becomes a forum for researchers in Indonesia to join and contribute to the World Academy of Engineering.
The second pillar, the WFEO Institute, stems from the development of the WFEO Academy, which serves as a platform to develop researchers’ careers. The WFEO Institute also provides certification for the engineering profession so they can work across borders.
‘WFEO has 100 member countries; half of them, and we can support research to learn new capabilities in other countries, and its professionals are known. We also collaborate with universities around the world,’ he said at World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development (WED) 2026, on Wednesday 4 March 2026.
Seng Chuan Tan noted that they have collaborated with Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) to conduct various studies, for instance on climate change, sea-level rise, and adaptation to climate challenges. From there, WFEO can work with the Indonesian government to provide solutions to address technological challenges.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of PII, Ilham Akbar Habibie, stated that WED 2026 has facilitated many internal meetings with relevant parties in the research field. Going forward, WED 2026 will also host discussions on themes important to the world and Indonesia, including sustainability and digitalisation, such as the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
‘Artificial Intelligence, which we must consider as engineers but also as a country and a nation, will bring enormous impacts. We must always be mindful that as engineers, whatever we do, our focus is not technology, not digitalisation, not innovation but humanity. We develop innovations to improve quality of life for all,’ he said.
In the same event, the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, said Indonesia is the first ASEAN country to host WED and the UNESCO AI Readiness Assessment to prepare a legal, ethical, and social framework for AI. However, he acknowledged challenges such as a shortage of engineers in the country.
‘Oleh karena itu pemerintah mendorong, termasuk untuk pengembangan semikonduktor, kita butuh 15 ribu engineers. Ini tugasnya Pak Ilham (PII) untuk mendukung,’ he said.
He continued that for Indonesia, Generative AI development could create a market worth US$243.5 billion of the national economy. AI demand is also high with the presence of giant technology companies in the AI, cloud, and data center sectors. Indonesia also has the potential to create 1.8 million green jobs through the green economy transition by 2030.
‘Tentu kerja sama antara Institute of Engineers, Engineers Global, dan juga para pengusaha ini sangat dibutuhkan agar kita bisa mencapai pembangunan yang kita harapkan dengan kekuatan engineers sendiri,’ he added.
For the record, World Engineering Day was designated by UNESCO in 2019 and first observed globally in 2020. The agenda, under the theme ‘Smart Engineering for a Sustainable Future through Innovation and Digitalisation,’ highlights engineers’ vital contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
WED 2026 was attended by 600 participants from 39 countries, including Andorra, Bangladesh, Belgium, Cameroon, Chad, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Nigeria, Peru, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Switzerland, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and Zimbabwe.