JICA Ogata Research Institute and Partners Earn Prestigious Award at Asian Remote Sensing Conference

Andi Besse Rimba , Research Fellow at the JICA Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development (JICA Ogata Research Institute), together with co-authors Sato Ichiro (Executive Senior Research Fellow at the JICA Ogata Research Institute), Naho Yoden, Matsumura Akiko, and Ogawada Daikichi (Nippon Koei Co., Ltd., Japan), and Narita Daiju (Visiting Fellow at the JICA Ogata Research Institute and professor at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo), received First Place in the Indroyono Soesilo Award during the Asian Conference on Remote Sensing (ACRS 2025). The 46th ACRS conference was hosted by the Indonesian Society for Remote Sensing (MAPIN) in collaboration with the Asian Association on Remote Sensing (AARS) from Oct. 27 to 31, 2025, in Makassar, Indonesia.

The award honors Indroyono Soesilo, a distinguished pioneer in geospatial science, ocean policy, and regional cooperation across Asia and the Pacific. It recognizes outstanding scientific achievements that link academia, industry, and policy institutions in applying remote sensing and geospatial technologies to address real-world sustainability challenges.

The title of the awarded paper is “Assessing Economic Benefit of Climate Adaptation for Urban Flooding in the Colombo Metropolitan Area, Sri Lanka.” It is part of “Study on quantitative evaluation of climate change adaptation benefits of urban flood management ,” a research project conducted by the JICA Ogata Research Institute. The paper integrates hydrodynamic modeling, remote sensing, and economic evaluation to quantify the cost-effectiveness of flood protection measures under climate change scenarios. The work was commended for its methodological rigor, cross-institutional collaboration, and strong policy relevance in supporting data-driven climate adaptation planning.

The Jury Panel for the award was chaired by Agustan (Chairperson, Indonesian Society for Remote Sensing (MAPIN) and host of ACRS 2025), with members: Lalu M. Jaelani, (Professor, The Sepuluh November Institute of Technology (ITS), Indonesia), Dewany Sutrisno (Professor, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Indonesia), Ilham Alimuddin, (Chair, ACRS 2025 Local Organizing Committee, and Associate Professor at Hasanuddin University). The Jury evaluated papers based on: 1) strength of collaboration among participating institutions; 2) scientific innovation and methodological rigor; 3) societal relevance and policy impact; and 4) scalability and regional applicability.