For decades, actuarial science subjects, in particular topics in life contingencies risks or actuarial mathematics, have been taught at some universities in Indonesia as electives in the mathematics or statistics departments (study programs). Those universities are Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB); Universitas Indonesia (UI); Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB University); Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM); and Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS). In 1998, the only master program in actuarial science in Indonesia was established at Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) in Bandung, Indonesia.

The “Risk Management, Economic Sustainability, and Actuarial Science Development in Indonesia (READI)” Project was launched in November 2015 and lasted until February 2021 (https://uwaterloo.ca/risk-management-economic-sustainability-actuarial-science-development-indonesia/).  The project was funded by the Government of Canada and was provided through the Department of Global Affairs Canada. The University of Waterloo, Canada, served as the Canadian Executing Agency and the READI Project was housed in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of Waterloo. The late Prof. Tan Ken Seng was the Chief Actuarial Advisor of the Project. The objectives of the project are to increase the number and quality of Indonesian actuarial science graduates available to Indonesian businesses, universities, and government agencies; to strengthen the linkages between industry, government, and educational institutions in support of actuarial science and risk management; and to deepen the understanding of actuarial science and risk management as a profession.

In the READI Project, the University of Waterloo worked closely with 9 (nine) universities in Indonesia, which are: IPB University, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Universitas Indonesia, Universitas Pelita Harapan, Universitas Prasetiya Mulya, Universitas Katolik Parahyangan, and Universitas Padjadjaran. On 14 February 2020, the Indonesian Mathematical Society (IndoMS), those 9 universities in Indonesia, and the READI Project, submitted to the Directorate General of Higher Education, the Ministry of Education and Cultural of Indonesia, “The Minimum Curriculum for Sarjana Program in Actuarial Science in Indonesia”.
In a great honor of the late Prof. Tan Ken Seng, and due to the need and significance of the “International Actuarial Research Conference (IARC)” that was discussed at the The Asia-Pacific Society of Actuaries Actuarial Teaching Conference (ATC) in Bangkok, Thailand, on 12 – 14 December 2022, the Indonesian Mathematical Society (IndoMS) decided to hold “The 2023 International Actuarial Research Conference” in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on 23 – 24 July 2023 with the addition of conducting a workshop on “Earthquake Catastrophe Risk Modeling” preceding the IARC.

Indonesia has held several actuarial related conferences and symposiums organized either by universities or actuarial associations. Here are some of the best suited for this initiative. The “2014 International Conference in Actuarial Science and Statistics (ICASS)”, organized by the Statistics Research Division, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), was held on 21 – 23 October 2014, at ITB, in Bandung. The two-day conference invited 5 keynote speakers, 9 invited speakers, and 45 contributing papers. Following the conference, workshops on rate analysis for non-life insurance were held in Bandung and Yogyakarta. As part of the “2019 SEAMS-UGM International Conference on Mathematics and Its Applications” hosted by the Department of Mathematics Universitas Gadjah Mada, a one-day mini symposium on issues in actuarial science was held in Yogyakarta. Invited speakers from industry, finance authorities, social security, and academia discussed the challenges and opportunities in developing research in actuarial science in Indonesia. In the mini symposium, a discussion was held to conduct the meetings more frequently with longer duration. Hence, an idea to conduct an international actuarial research conference in the future was born.  

The 2022 Asia-Pacific Society of Actuaries Actuarial Teaching Conference (ATC) was held in Bangkok, Thailand, on 12 – 14 December 2022. During the ATC, serious discussions occurred between the late Prof. Tan Ken Seng, the Head of the Actuarial Science Division of the Indonesian Mathematical Society (IndoMS), and several faculty members from Universitas Gadjah Mada, following the discussions in the mini symposium in 2019. It was decided to hold a “counterpart” to the ATC, which is an “International Actuarial Research Conference (IARC)” in 2023, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It was also decided that starting January 2023, the late Prof. Tan Ken Seng and us will seriously make plans to realize the IARC which will precede “The 9th SEAMS-UGM 2023 International Conference on Mathematics and Its Applications” conducted in July 2023, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, a quadrennial conference jointly hosted by the Department of Mathematics, Universitas Gadjah Mada, and the Southeast Asian Mathematical Society (SEAMS).

We were extremely shocked and deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Prof. Tan Ken Seng on 1 January 2023. The actuarial science community in Indonesia, particularly we who worked closely with Prof. Tan Ken Seng since 2014 in the planning and realization of the READI Project, had lost a great mentor and friend and colleague. In a great honor of the late Prof. Tan Ken Seng, and due to the needs and significance of the “International Actuarial Research Conference (IARC)” which we had talked about at the ATC in Bangkok, the Indonesian Mathematical Society (IndoMS) decided to continue planning and realizing “The 2023 International Actuarial Research Conference” in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on 23 – 24 July 2023 with the addition of conducting a workshop on “Earthquake Catastrophe Risk Modeling” preceding the IARC.

In the past few years, public trust in the financial institutions in Indonesia, particularly in the Indonesian insurance and investment industries, are declining due to the collapse or insolvency of several Indonesian insurance and investments companies. Millions of policyholders and investors are losing or in the risk of losing their money. Due to such problems, academics in actuarial science in Indonesia are compelled to take part in finding solutions to the problems. For that purpose, the 2023 International Actuarial Research Conference in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, is held with the theme: “Reinforcing Research in Actuarial Science to Increase Trust and Confidence in the Financial Institutions”.