The oration highlighted the role of telecommunications network performance engineering as a fundamental pillar supporting a wide range of digital activities, including education, healthcare, industry, government, research, entertainment, and artificial intelligence.

Professor Tutun emphasized that networks often go unnoticed when they function properly, but their importance becomes immediately apparent whenever a disruption occurs.

“Behind the digital transformation that has made our lives more convenient lies a foundation that operates almost invisibly: networks that perform as expected,” he said.

Telecommunications as an Effort to Overcome Distance

Professor Tutun explained that humanity’s need to remain connected has driven the development of telecommunications technology. He referred to the film Cast Away, in which the main character creates “Wilson” as a companion while stranded alone on an island.

The evolution of telecommunications has progressed from smoke signals, traditional wooden slit drums, carrier pigeons, and letters to the telegraph, telephone, internet, Voice over Internet Protocol, and cellular networks. These developments have made communication faster, more reliable, and capable of reaching a larger number of people.

Today, 5G technology and the development toward 6G support not only voice, data, and video communication, but also artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, industrial applications, and public services.

“Networks have evolved from a medium of communication into the foundation of modern digital life,” he said.

Toward Intelligent and User-Oriented Networks

Professor Tutun explained that network performance engineering aims to maintain a balance between traffic loads, service quality, and network resources. Network planning must take into account historical traffic patterns, current conditions, and future requirements.

“A network engineer cannot simply monitor a network. They must analyze, plan, and optimize it to ensure that services remain fast, stable, reliable, and ready to serve users,” he said.

Developments in Software-Defined Networking, Network Functions Virtualization, cloud-native technology, 5G, and 6G have made networks increasingly flexible, but also more complex. As a result, network management now employs telemetry, analytics, observability, network slicing, and artificial intelligence to detect anomalies, predict disruptions, and perform automated optimization.

“Network operations are shifting from a reactive approach to a predictive one,” he said.

Artificial intelligence is also transforming the role of network engineers, who are increasingly becoming policy designers and system supervisors. However, Professor Tutun stressed that final decisions must remain under human control.

“The final decision remains in human hands. AI strengthens network engineering; it does not replace engineering judgment,” he emphasized.

In the future, 6G networks are expected to understand context, adapt to different service requirements, and expand connectivity through terrestrial networks, satellites, and airborne platforms.

“In essence, future networks must be fast, intelligent, sustainable, and trustworthy as the foundation of the next era of digital civilization,” he said.

Telecommunications as a National Capability

Professor Tutun emphasized that telecommunications networks play a strategic role in connecting Indonesia’s regions, from major cities to remote areas. The challenge is not merely to provide signal coverage, but also to ensure that digital services are fast, stable, reliable, and beneficial to all members of society.

“Telecommunications must become a national capability, not merely infrastructure,” he said.

To achieve this, Indonesia must strengthen measurement standards, network optimization, AI-based automation, governance, financing, and talent development.

“Safeguarding Indonesia’s digital future means ensuring that networks work for all Indonesian people,” he stressed.

According to Professor Tutun, telecommunications networks must be capable of supporting innovation, economic growth, education, healthcare, and equal access to opportunities.

“Network performance engineering works silently to keep every connection alive, intelligent, reliable, and trustworthy in building a human-centered digital civilization,” he said.

Profile of Prof. Dr. Ir. Tutun Juhana

Prof. Dr. Ir. Tutun Juhana, S.T., M.T., IPU, was born in Sumedang on February 12, 1969. He is a Professor of Telecommunications Engineering at ITB’s School of Electrical Engineering and Informatics.

Professor Tutun completed his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering at ITB in 1995. He subsequently earned a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from ITB in 1999 and a Doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering and Informatics from ITB in 2011. He also completed the Professional Engineer Program in 2020.

During his career at ITB, Professor Tutun served as Head of the Undergraduate Telecommunications Engineering Study Program from 2018 to 2020. He has served as Dean of STEI ITB since 2020. He was officially appointed Professor on June 1, 2025.

Professor Tutun’s research covers a broad range of telecommunications and networking fields. His recent studies include forwarding strategies for Named Data Networking using double Q-learning, communication channel modeling for high-speed vehicles, and an AI-based adaptive framework for the Social Internet of Vehicles.

He has also conducted research on malicious software detection using image-based feature extraction and multimodal learning, the integration of chatbots and the Internet of Things for emotion recognition, wearable LoRa devices for search-and-rescue operations, disaster monitoring systems, and the development of portable communication devices for emergency situations.

In addition to his research activities, Professor Tutun has authored dozens of publications in national and international journals and conference proceedings. His publications cover topics including vehicular communication, cellular networks, network planning, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, disaster-response systems, LoRa networks, health monitoring, antennas, and network security.

In recognition of his contributions, Professor Tutun has received several awards, including the Satyalancana Karya Satya 10-Year Service Medal from the President of the Republic of Indonesia in 2013, the Satyalancana Karya Satya 20-Year Service Medal in 2019, ITB’s 25-Year Service Award in 2022, and the Ganesa Wira Adiutama Award from the Rector of ITB in 2025.

Professor Tutun also holds an Executive Professional Engineer Competency Certificate from the Institution of Engineers Indonesia. In addition, he has experience as a quality management system auditor, an assessor for the professional divisions of the Institution of Engineers Indonesia, an assessor for academic faculty positions, and an assessor for Internal Quality Assurance Systems.

Reporter: Merryta Kusumawati (Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering, 2025)