Asia House announces new Fellows for 2024/2025

Asia House has awarded two new fellowships as part of its commitment to developing the next generation of business and policy leaders.

Bahtiar Rifai and Catherine Setiawan have been selected as the Asia House Fellows for 2024-2025 from a competitive field of applicants. They will start in October and will each conduct a major research project which will be published in autumn 2025.

The new fellows will focus on the deployment of AI in Southeast Asia, one of the fastest-growing regions in the world. While greater adoption of AI across public and private sectors can boost productivity and enhance global competitiveness, the region’s capacity to compete on a global scale remains hampered by its low level of preparedness in leveraging AI-driven technologies. The fellows will produce a detailed research report which will focus on addressing these challenges and developing strategies to bolster the region’s capabilities.

Michael Lawrence OBE, Chief Executive of Asia House, said: “The Asia House Fellowship Programme aims to identify and develop future leaders and is one of our key strategic priorities. We have been impressed by the high-calibre of applicants this year and excited to have awarded the fellowships to two outstanding candidates in Bahtiar and Catherine.”

“We are looking forward to working with them on their respective projects and welcoming them to the wider Asia House network.”

AI readiness for government

Bahtiar’s research will focus on the acceleration of AI adoption in the public sector and its role in improving the quality of public services.

Bahtiar, who completed his PhD in Regional Economics from the University of Birmingham in 2020, will be based in Jakarta throughout the duration of his fellowship. He brings extensive research experience gained through his role as the Head of Research Group for Knowledge-Based Economy at Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN).

AI in global trade

Catherine will explore the ethics of AI and its implications for international trade, focusing on the case study of Southeast Asia.

Catherine’s project will bring together her vast experience and deep knowledge of emerging technologies and policy frameworks at the multilateral level. This research is timely given the recent endorsement of the ASEAN Guide on AI Ethics and Governance in February 2024 and the ongoing negotiations of the Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), which ASEAN aims to conclude by the end of 2025.