Elifas Lolo Padang, a student from the Information Systems Study Program at the Kalimantan Institute of Technology (ITK), had a valuable opportunity to undertake an internship at the Regional Development Planning, Research and Development Agency (Bappeda Litbang) of Balikpapan City. Elifas interned from January 20, 2025, to May 4, 2025, and was placed in the Urban Infrastructure and Economic Development Division (PIPP). This internship was part of a collaboration between ITK and Bappeda Litbang Kota Balikpapan, information about which Elifas obtained through his batch leader and then confirmed with his study program coordinator.

The PIPP Division at Bappeda Litbang Kota Balikpapan plays a crucial role in planning development in the infrastructure and economic sectors. This includes coordinating, identifying, and analyzing program/activity development needs in these fields. Additionally, this division is responsible for evaluating program achievements, verifying community proposals and DPRD's core ideas (POKIR), and ensuring synchronization between regional development plans and national and provincial policy directions in infrastructure and economy. Elifas was supervised by Ibu Yuyun Tri Wiranti, S.Kom., M.MT as his academic advisor, and Bapak Muhammad Ali Ichwani, S.T., M. Ec.Dev as his field supervisor.

During his internship, Elifas also applied knowledge gained from his studies, particularly for a 20 SKS conversion assignment. The internship project topic Elifas chose was "Information Technology Architecture Planning at Bappeda Litbang Kota Balikpapan using TOGAF ADM (Preliminary - Information Systems Architecture stages)". Coordination with Diskominfo was also carried out for analysis of other conversion tasks.

In his daily activities, Elifas assisted in various tasks. His main internship duties included verifying regional development aspiration proposals and verifying DPRD's Core Ideas (POKIR) data using tools like the Regional Government Information System (SIPD). Elifas also created data visualizations such as rainfall graphs in Balikpapan for flood analysis purposes. Supporting tasks during the internship included assisting as a note-taker during meetings and participating in events such as Musrenbang (Regional Development Planning Forum) and KRENOVA (Creativity and Innovation).

This internship was not only about applying technical knowledge but also served as an opportunity to absorb new and essential skills for the professional world. Elifas gained the ability to work professionally in a team, improved his communication skills, time and task management abilities, and adaptability to a new environment.

Elifas Lolo Padang's internship experience at Bappeda Litbang Kota Balikpapan provided deep practical insights into regional development planning and enriched his individual skills, which will be highly valuable for his future career.