The program which is funded by Erasmus+ and is a part of the CBHE Erasmus+ program was set to run from the year 2020 to 2023. The objective of this program is to improve the competency and skills of universities in Asia. This program seeks to reform the bachelor's degree program, which will bring the national education system on par with European Union standards and increase the competitiveness of its graduates in the labor market, which is focused on textile technology and smart textile.

SMARTEX program involves three European universities, one consultant company from Greece, two universities from Pakistan, two universities from Malaysia, and two universities from Indonesia. The universities mentioned are the University of West Attica (Greece), Ghent University (Belgium), Universitat Politècnica deValència (Spain), Universiti Teknologi MARA (Malaysia), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (Malaysia), Politeknik STTT Bandung (Indonesia), Institut Teknologi Bandung (Indonesia), Baharuddin Zakariya University (Pakistan), NED University of Engineering & Technology (Pakistan). The company that is involved in this program is IDEC SA, a Greek consulting company.

A seminar titled Smart Textile in Higher Education and Industry has been held both onsite and online, in FSRD second floor seminar hall in CAD – ITB building on Monday, 25 July 2022. This seminar is a part of the SMARTEX program study visit agenda.

"The SMARTEX partners are very happy and impressed with what they got in ITB. Besides having the opportunity to see the results of lectures from courses that are part of the SMARTEX program (Advanced Textile, E-Textiles, dan Explorative Biodegradable Textile) and seeing directly the SMARTEX lab on the fifth floor of CADL ITB building, they were impressed by the beauty and atmosphere of ITB Campus with its laboratories and the sheer diversity of research that are being conducted in ITB," said Innamia Indriani S.Ds., M.Ds., a lecturer from FAD ITB.

Innamia added the SMARTEX partners hope that they can continue to collaborate and cooperate with ITB. Whether related to this program or outside of it. They saw a lot of potential, especially from the students and collaborations that were formed between lecturers and students.

Translator: Favian Aldilla R (Civil Engineering, 2019)