TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC:
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY IN INDONESIA
By
Rahardi Ramelan
INTRODUCTION
S & T policy in Indonesia is clearly stated in the Repelita Vl document. The goals of S & T development are, among others to increase the capability of the nation to utilize and to develop S & T. S & T transfer has been considered as major scheme of S & T development which will be improved through increasing human resources capability, S & T infrastructure, and increasing quality of education.
Major national policies for S & T development are development of S & T values, research partnership, progressive manufacture, productions process and quality of products, quantity and composition of S & T human resources, and improvement of S & T institutions.
In this short paper I would like to outline some specific S & T activities in Indonesia which hopefully useful for our next STEPAN UPDATE. I would like to start with highlight of some informational background regarding S&T in Indonesia.
Background of S & T in Indonesia
Based upon number of researchers per 10.000 population, as a comparison, in 1989 South Korea reached 15.6. Using the same indicator, Indonesia reached 1.8 per 10.000 population. If we use a ratio between S & T university graduate relative to total population of 22 year old, then Indonesia has only 0.5% of university graduate in 1991, which was much lower than Taiwan (4.2%), Korea and Japan (6.0%) in 1990.
In 1992, total employee who work in S & T institutions such as universities and research institutions reached 638.881 person. Out of that number, 0.68%, 1.38% and 44.2% are PhD, master and BS degree graduates, respectively. However, those who engage directly in research are 68.284 person, namely 3.697 person with PhD degree, and 48.528 person with MS or BS degree.
Most of the qualified researchers according to RUT III (1995/96) competition, are distributed in four major cities, namely, Jakarta, Bogor, Bandung and Yogyakarta.
Government spending for S & T development has been increasing. The total increase of S & T budget, namely routine and development budget were about 30% a year since 1993/94, namely the S & T budget has increased from Rp.701.2 million in 1993/94 to Rp.871.2 million 1994/95 and Rp.1.182.6 million in 1995/96. In term of percentage, S & T expenditure to gross domestic product, the shares are as follows: 0.20% in 1993/94, 0.22% in 1994/95 and 0.25% in 1995/96 at 1993 current prices.
S & T Policy in Indonesia
I would like to emphasis on major development in S & T policies in Indonesia. Major objectives of S & T policies are to increase national capability in knowledge and technology generation. In area of research, there are at least four major schemes, namely, competitive grant research (hibah bersaing), University Research for Graduate Education (URGE), Integrated Competitive Research (RUT), and Cooperative Research (RUK). In line with those research policies there is in house research project which is designed to improve capability of research institutions. One gate policy is one of policy instruments to improve research input performance. Furthermore, RUK is designed to increase research cooperation between private firms and government research institutions .
I would like to spell more on integrated competitive research (RUT). RUT
promotes the following fields of research:
(i) Biotechnology,
(ii) Medical Technology,
(iii) Agricultural Engineering and Technology,
(iv) Engineering Design,
(v) Material Science & Engineering
(vi) Chemical and Process Technology
(vii) Energy Technology,
(viii) Electronics and Information Technology,
(ix) Environmental Protection Technology, (x) Socioeconomics,
(x) Socioeconomics
Human Resources Development
Human resources development is one of the most important aspect in S & T development and policy. To increase human resources we developed the following policies:
(i) Overseas graduate training in science and technology. Here we have the following projects:
- Overseas fellowship program (OFP)
- Science, Technology, and Industrial Development (STAID)
- Science and Technology Management Development Project ( STMDP) .
(ii) University programs are more directed toward S & T program.
(iii) Development of Coop program as a part of link-and-match policy.
Seminar and Workshop
We actively conducted seminars and workshops in the areas of S & T policy. The followings are, among others, our activities in Indonesia:
- Jakarta workshop on S & T Indicators: Problems and Prospects, on 5 - 6 October 1995, which inviting Dr. Tim Turpin as Director of Research Policy, University of Wollongong, Australia and Dr. Stephen Hill, Director of ROSTSEA-UNESCO in Jakarta.
Furthermore, we are also preparing the following workshop in the near future:
- Preparing and conducting the Jakarta Conference in 27 - 29 November 1995 on Commercialization of R & D Outputs in Jakarta.
- Conducting a workshop on Property Rights in December 1995 (date has not been decided). Representative from Australian Industrial Property Organization (AIPO) will be invited.
- Workshop on S & T Indicators Development in Indonesia in December 1995 (date has not been decided). Dr. Kevin H.J. Bryant from Science and Technology Division of Department of Industry, Science and Technology, Australia, and Dr. Stephen Hill will be invited as guest speakers.
Closing remarks
I have outlined major recent S&T policies in Indonesia. The above activities hopefully can provide contribution to our next STEPAN UPDATE issue.