INDONESIA S SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICIES

Transcription

1 INDONESIA S SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICIES by Prof. Samaun Samadikun AKADEMI ILMU PENGETAHUAN INDONESIA INDONESIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Gedung 123, Komplek PUSPITEK Serpong, Tanggerang 15313, Telp./Fax.: (021) ,

2 INTRODUCTION Indonesia has just finished its first twenty five years development plan and is in the process of implementing its fourth year of its second twenty five years plan. As a result of this plan, the Indonesian economy has grown consistently at an average annual rate of 7 percent during the past 25 years, and presently reaching a GNP of about 200 Billion USD annually. The role of science and technology during this period is to support the development process in the field of Agriculture, Health, Housing, Infrastructure, Natural resources, Environment, Industry, Defense and Socio economy. During the next 25 years, Science and technology is designated as a Development Area in itself, besides its supportive role to other Development sectors. The Asia Pacific has been identified as a high growth region during the period which goes well into the 21st century. The Deutsche Bank prediction for the year 2004 states that the world's GDP will reach USD 39 trillion, where the US, Japan and Europe combined GDP covers 57%, Asia 31% and other nations 12%. But in the year 2019 this picture will change drastically, namely the world's GDP will be almost doubled to USD 76 Trillion, where-the US, Japan and Europe combined GDP will cover 32%, while Asia's GDP will increase to 51%, and other nations to 17%. Indonesia is planning for a continuation of its present economic growth about 7% annually during the second 25 year plan. Since this average annual growth will create a doubling time of about 11 years, Indonesia's annual GDP will be almost quadrupled to about USD 800 Billion in the year With a population then of 230 million people, the average annual per capita income would then be around USD According to the latest World Bank report, China, Indonesia, India, Brazil, and Russia, will be contributing about 50% of total world trade by the turn of the century. funding, starting from research, to development, engineering, production and then marketing. Total funding of research is presently at about 0.26% of GDP, while private sector participation is only around 25%. The targeted amounts for the end of the second 25 year plan calls for a total annual research funding of 2% of GDP and private sector participation rate of 70%. In actual US Dollar amounts, the total Government funding for Science and Technology Sector during budget year, is about USD 400 million, and is projected to increase to about USD 16 billion in the year Considering the steep projected increase in national research funding in the years ahead, especially the role of the private sector, special incentives to the private sector have to be devised, and socially acceptable success criteria formulated, to obtain the necessary social and political support to get the required public funding. HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT Programs to improve the human resources in quality and quantity are funded through various budgets. Tertiary education is funded through the education sector, while post formal tertiary professional development is funded through the science and technology sector. The role of the private sector in tertiary education in Indonesia is considerable, with about 500 private tertiary education institutions compared to only about 40 public institutions. Total enrollment in tertiary education is presently about 2.2 million students, corresponding to a participation rate of 15%, which is still low. This participation rate is projected to increase to 25% in the - 2 -

3 year A Parliamentary Decree was issued in 1989 covering education in general. The Higher Education part of the Decree stipulates a common standard of performance evaluation for both public and private higher education institutions. For this purpose, a National Accreditation Board for Higher Education was instituted through a Ministerial Decree in Result of the evaluation of the first 1500 study programs at major public and private higher education institutions has been reported to the Minister of Education and Culture by the Accreditation Board. Evaluation was based on quality, efficiency, and relevance of the study programs. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK Indonesia is in a transition to broaden its economy from a purely agricultural base to also include industry, and also to broaden its export from an oil base to also include other natural resources and industrial product. To achieve this goal. A corresponding technostructure has to be built, where scientific and technological activity will only be a part of it. But looking in the years ahead, the role of science and technology institutions will be increasingly more important in making this transition a success. The institutional framework for the management of science and technology in Indonesia started very early in its national history. After the proclamation of independence on August 17, 1945 followed by the struggle against the return of the old colonial power, and finally international recognition in 1949, science was first organized within the ministry of Higher Education and Science, followed by a Ministry of Research during the sixties and early seventies, and by the State Ministry for Research and Technology since then. After the official formation of the National Research Council in 1984, policy formulation and priority settings were drafted by the Council and submitted to the State Minister for Science and Technology for adoption. Presently, the Council has 164 members coming from Academia, National and Departmental Research Institutes, and Industry. The Council reports to the Minister and besides formulating the priorities, it has also the role of monitoring and evaluating the execution of the programs and also in guiding and controlling it. The National Research Council consist of 5 groups which is not based on scientific disciplines, but based on national development problems, as follows : 1. Basic Human Needs, and subdivided into 4 subgroups : a. Health b. Agriculture, food and nutrition c. Housing d. Education 2. Natural resources, energy and environment a. Natural resources b. Energy c. Environment 3. Industrialization a. Manufacturing industry b. Small industries c. Engineering industries d. Science, technology, and human resources for industry 4. Defense and security 5. Social, economy, culture, philosophy, law and regulation a. Politics, economy and law - 3 -

4 b. Social dynamics c. Culture and philosophy The Academy of Science of Indonesia was officially instituted in 1991 through a Decree of the Parliament, and presently has 44 members. Its members are grouped in 5 Commissions based on scientific disciplines, namely : 1. Engineering Sciences 2. Medical Sciences 3. Basic sciences 4. Social Sciences 5. Art and Culture The Academy is not an executing agency but acts more as an advisory body. It published its reports and recommendations in the form of public documents. The Academy is the highest scientific body in the country, and each member of the Academy is entitled to be accepted as a member of the National Research Council, if they wish to be one. POLICY ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PRIORITY AREAS Several science and technology areas have also been identified as priority areas, because of its potential of giving a substantial contribution towards accelerating the pace of national development in the years ahead, and which should be given special attention. These areas are : 1. Biotechnology 2. Medical technology 3. Food technology 4. Product engineering and production engineering 5. Material science 6. Chemistry and process engineering 7. Energy technology (generation, conversion, storage) 8. Electronics and informatics 9. Environmental protection technologies. DOWNSTREAM POLICIES To justify the use of public funds, most of the science and technology development activities in Indonesia is expected eventually to end up in boosting an economic or social welfare activity. This creation of wealth through added value activities in industry, requires the availability of those industries, either in Indonesia or elsewhere. Considering the present and future potential domestic need to provide infrastructure for its national development, such as land sea and air transportation, telecommunication, and energy, the existence of those industries in Indonesia could be used as a platform to plan national scientific and technological capabilities. Those targeted industries are as follow : 1. Aeronautics and aerospace industry 2. Maritime and shipbuilding 3. Land transportation industry 4. Telecommunication - 4 -

5 5. Energy industries 6. Engineering industries 7. Agricultural machinery industries 8. Defense industries 9. Supporting industries To realize this program, 10 strategic industries have been designated since the late seventies. Consisting of one industry each in the field of aerospace, shipbuilding, railroad, telecommunication, electronics, explosives, steel, and three industries in the field of machinery, MEASUREMENT OF TECHNOLOGICAL CAPABILITY A certain methodology is being followed within the strategic industries to improve their accumulated capability through measurable stages. This methodology, commonly called in industrial circles in Indonesia as "Start at the end, and end at the beginning", consist of four stages. The first stage is to achieve the capability to manufacture a product which is marketable, usually through a licensing agreement. This activity will create cash flow to the company to help the further development of its capability, and also to have a feel of the total system for eventual unbundling of the product into subsystem. The introduction of the product will also generate feedback from the consumers regarding reliability and other customer services, which can be used as an input to improve the next generation of the product. For a mature industry this stage is usually the end stage of a product development cycle, after having done the research, development and engineering activities for the product. The successful mastering of the first stage, which can be called the "production and marketing stage", is measured in the companies ability to compete in the market based on quality, price and time ot" delivery. During the first stage, preparation is also done for the second stage, which is called the "technology integration stage". The preparation is mostly in training enough human resources to be able to integrate existing technologies to design a new product, and also building testing facilities where the designs can be tested, before producing and marketing it using the already existing capability acquired during the first stage. The successful implementation of the second stage is measured by the success of the new product introduced into the market, which was designed by the company by integrating existing technologies, again using market criteria such as price, quality and time of delivery. Preparation also have to be done for the third stage, which is called the "technology development stage", again mostly in preparing people and additional testing and production facilities for the new product which will embody the newly developed technology. New technology which is produced through the integration of existing science, is considered here as an economic commodity, so that economic criteria are also applied for its evaluation. The successful implementation of the third stage is measured by the success of the marketability of the new product embodying the newly developed technology, using market competitive criteria as was used in the previous stages. Also preparation for the fourth stage, called the "scientific development stage", have to be done by preparing people and scientific laboratories. Another very valuable asset obtained during the previous three stages are the number of skilled people with certified professional qualification in production, engineering - 5 -

6 and design, and other unspecifyable accumulated knowledge within the company and its supporting technostructure. The fourth stage is a necessary requirement to maintain competitiveness in the productline and becoming a center of excellence in the technology. The Strategic Industries have been applying this methodology consistently during the past 15 years, and presently they are at various levels of development. Most notably is the aircraft industry PT. IPTN, who is presently at stage three, and recently launched its newly designed 70 seater widebody commuter aircraft using home-brew fly-by-wire technology, which is presently the most advanced product in its class. The company started in the late seventies by assembling helicopters and fixed wing commuter aircraft through licensing agreements, and selling it worldwide to pass the first development stage. In the mid eighties, a 35 seater commuter aircraft, jointly designed with an European aircraft company, was launched and later certified and marketed worldwide. The company has now about twenty thousand employees with about four thousand engineers. It has recently set up joint venture companies in the US and Europe for the manufacture and marketing of their 70 seater commuter aircraft, codenamed N-250. They will then be a technology exporter, maybe the first Indonesian company who will be exporting high technology through royalty agreements. Next in line is the shipbuilding industry, who has launched their first modern 500 passenger ship for inter island routes, and the railroad company who has launched their own designed and manufactured high speed carriages. Less successful are the telecommunication and electronics strategic industries, who are still in their first stage, and trying to identify their major product to be used as a platform for their second stage development. OTHER TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT MODELS IN INDONESIA Science and technology capability development in the chemical industry is following a different path. A systematic effort is pursued since the sixties, to have the capability in plant design and engineering in the chemical industry. Several public and private engineering companies are presently already in the business in providing design, engineering and contracting service for complete fertilizer and cement factories, mostly for the domestic market, but is also slowly marketing its services in neighboring countries. In the area of Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG, where Indonesia is presently the world's biggest exporter, the same technological capability is being pursued, namely in plant design and engineering services, and presently Indonesian companies are already offering this service. The development of the Natuna gas field with a projected investment of 38 billion USD in the coming 10 years, will also be used as a platform for the development of technological capability in this high technology area. Because of the special nature of the Natuna gas, which contain 70% CO2, separation plants have to be designed using cryogenic techniques, also the re-injection of the CO2 and the huge offshore structures needed to anchor the installation, are all capabilities which will be continuously needed to further develop our natural gas resources. The Indonesia Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council have set up committees, together with research institutes, industry and Pertamina, the owner of the gas field, to plot a stepwise upward path of the Indonesian technological capability, to enable it to capture most of the projected investment, and building up an Indonesian technostructure to enable the implementation of an even bigger national development project in the future

7 S&T POLICY TOWARDS FOREIGN INVESTMENT The huge foreign capital inflow into Indonesia during the last 15 years has also brought a huge inflow of technology, embodied in the equipment, organization, information and the experts brought in. Program have been devised to increase the contribution of local companies to support these investment, with the objective of improving the competitiveness of these companies in the international market, and also to introduce the discipline of quality, price and time delivery to the local companies. A World Bank supported project under the name of Industrial Technology Development Project (ITDP) is presently being implemented to provide funds and technical assistance for these type of activities. The National Research Council is a member of the Steering Committee, to guarantee the continuation of the project after the secession of World Bank funding, The Indonesian science and technology policy towards the already approved international investors can be put in a nutshell as follows : "To be good partners in tackling the world together". This policy is actually not new, but already practiced since the early days when most of the foreign in investment in Indonesia is in oil and gas, and how the Indonesian scientific community together with the foreign investor's scientific community, has contributed in making the Indonesian oil and gas industry today, one of the best in the world. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION The Association of South East Asian Nations, or ASEAN, now consisting of nine nations, namely : Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Laos, are cooperating in the field of science and technology through the Committee on Science and Technology (COST). The support of science and technology toward economic development as part of a broader national development, is a common element of the science and technology policy of the ASEAN member countries. Science and technology indicators which are commonly used in ASEAN are : 1. Ratio of R&D expenditure to GDP 2. Industrial R&D expenditure by public and private sector 3. Number of scientists and engineers engaged in R&D 4. Scientists and engineers as percentage of labor force 5. Patent application by domestic and foreign investors. Although these indicators are routinely measured to give the general state of science and technology in each member country, comparison between countries is not easy, because of the differences between them. Indonesia having the highest population in ASEAN has been concentrating its industrial development by concentrating in basic industries to exploit its rich natural resources of oil, gas, minerals and wood. Singapore because of its size and location started with trading and later on went to manufacturing and finance. While Indonesia started with import substitution, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand started early with export substitution, namely from natural product export to manufactured product export. The ASEAN member countries have agreed to implement the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) in 2003, and discussions are being conducted to bring it forward to the year Each of the ASEAN member countries is preparing itself for this date, how science and technology can be mobilized to reap maximum benefit from the opportunities created by the market potential of AFTA. In 1992 the total added value produced by the Indonesian manufacturing sector is - 7 -

8 twice that Singapore and larger than the Philippines, while projections for 2020 estimates the Indonesian manufacturing added value at about twice the amount of South Korea is now. During the 1995 conference of APEC Science and Technology Ministers in Beijing, it was agreed that the member economies should accelerate common efforts in science, technology, and research activities, because of its positive contribution towards sustainable economic growth of each member economies, and the region as a whole. Indonesian very much welcome this resolve, because Indonesia believes in common efforts and cooperation. LOOKING AHEAD A new PUNAS RISTEK is being prepared by the National Research Council to be submitted to the Office of the State Minister for Research and Technology for implementation during the 7th Five year plan Several issues were identified which need special attention, as follows : 1. Excellence and self reliance on several key technologies to be achieved at the end of the second 25 years development plan. The strategic industries will be the main driving force behind this effort. Participation from other industries and from the scientific community have to be mobilized. The recently launched top-down R,D&E activity (RUSNAS : National Strategic Competitive Research) is a step towards this direction. 2. International competitiveness. This is a "now" program, to support the manufacturing industries to be more competitive in the world market. Since most of the operations are in manufacturing, support needed is mostly in production techniques, and skilled operators and maintenance people. About 100 new polytechnics are planned in the coming 20 years, Manufacturing laboratories are also being set-up at Universities. 3. Development of technology oriented medium and small enterprises. 4. Intellectual Property Right. A conscious effort to bring in international technology to Indonesia through licensing agreements, and monitoring the trade in technology. To be able to participate actively in this technology trade, the production of domestic patents have to be intensified. 5. The eastern part of Indonesia. How the S&T sector could participate in the development of the eastern part of Indonesia as a supporting sector, as well as using the opportunities created by this development as a springboard to develop new technological capabilities. Indonesia still has a long way to go to develop its technology innovation capability, and the creation, of wealth through technology. The present policies are directed towards improving the quality of the work performed by engineers and scientist in their professional endeavors. Some shifting in importance from Institutional Building towards People Building are being implemented. With the limited resources available, a good balance between bottom-up and top-down activities have to be drawn