100 days for new research and technology minister

100 days for new research and technology minister

Sulfikar Amir, Troy, New York

The announcement of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's
Cabinet, just before midnight on Oct. 20, turned out to be an
anticlimax. The United Indonesia Cabinet, as it is called, seems
to have disappointed some people as its composition was conceived
based more on political considerations than on professionalism.
Some old faces are back, but in different positions. But, to be
fair, the new Cabinet is not so appalling when one considers the
appointments case by case.

The appointment of Kusmayanto Kadiman, who was named State
Minister of Research and Technology, is quite historical. He is
the first State Minister of Research and Technology to be
affiliated with the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), the
most prominent technical university in the country. Holding a
doctorate in control engineering from the Australian National
University, Kadiman started his academic career from down below,
before heading to the ITB's department of Control Physics
Engineering.

In 2001, he was elected as the first rector of ITB. Under his
three-year leadership, the ITB has flourished, physically as well
as academically. From Kadiman's background, he is without a doubt
the right person for the position.

Recently, President Susilo summoned his Cabinet ministers to
design their 100-days programs. He also urged every minister to
use "shock therapy" to show their commitment to clean governance,
and to maintain public trust in his presidency. What kind of
opportunity would this give the State Minister of Research and
Technology? Is there any shock therapy that would stimulate
scientific and technological activity in the country within 100
days?

Given that we have been dependent on imported technology for
years, developing our own technology is compulsory. Yet,
developing technology is not a job that can be completed within
100 days. It took centuries for the United States to gain
technological superiority, such as we witness today. Countries
like Japan and South Korea took at least several decades to
master Western technology, let alone developing their own.

As a newly appointed minister, Kadiman is certainly eager to
create attractive programs to keep up with the new Cabinet's
pace. On the one hand, this is a good opportunity for him to show
to the public that he is capable of the job. But on the other
hand, this could easily be a "trap" to create instant
technological-development programs based on technologists'
interests, which only produce short-term benefits exclusively for
technologists, instead of long-term advantages for society at
large. For this, Kadiman should be aware that creating technology
in the lab is totally different from manufacturing technology
that benefits society.

To avoid such a trap, the first thing the minister could do is
to replace the old paradigm -- I call it Habibiesm -- which has
occupied the orientation of national technology policy for years.
In a nutshell, Habibiesm comprises three problematic views that
hinder technology policy from being grounded socially and
culturally.

First, Habibiesm heavily relies on the assumption that
technology determines social change, ignoring the fact that
technology is a social product.

Second, the major motivation of technology development is the
pursuit of prestige. Although B.J. Habibie is no longer in
office, the tendency to pursue technological prestige is still
alive. The problem is that what gives prestige to the country in
the eyes of technologists is not what people really need.

Third, technological development is severely dominated by the
government. This issue is not about how much money is spent by
the government on the development of technology, but the
government's domination in determining what, and how, technology
is developed.

In an interview, Kadiman said that he would focus on enhancing
the triple-helix coordination, or using his term "ABG", which
stands for Academics, Business and Government. This is a good
indication that he is aware of the significance of structural
conditions in stimulating technology development. But to do such
a job is not that easy. As a control engineer, Kadiman realizes
that control requires power. So the question is, how much power
is actually in Kadiman's hands, to allows him to implement his
agenda of "controlling" these three groups of interest?

We know that in previous governments, the seat that Kadiman
holds was treated merely as commodity for political exchange
between the president and their political supporters. But this is
no longer the case as Kadiman is not linked to any political
group, which shows that President Susilo understands that
research and technology should be handled by the right person.

The shame of the matter is that the ministerial position does
not come with sufficient power to influence other sectors'
policies, namely industry, education, and telecommunications,
whereas the success of technology policy always involves the
engagement of other government agencies.

This is a dilemma for Kadiman, because, while he is
politically free, he is also politically weak. Besides, given
that President Susilo seemed to have no specific technology
agenda during his presidential campaign, it is difficult for
Kadiman to gain strong political support from the president, such
as that which Habibie enjoyed from Soeharto.

Within this condition, my suggestion is that the minister
should restructure technological institutions. The goal of such
institutional reengineering would be to exchange resources with
other departments in order to make them more efficient, more
integrated and more productive.

Finally, all of this demands an intensive approach to other
ministers and related government agencies. Nevertheless,
technology development always involves politics, which should not
be avoided but embraced. Thus, the 100-days program of the
minister should comprise political lobbying.

The writer is a PhD candidate in Science and Technology
Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.