Academics and DPR Warn Golden Indonesia 2045 Cannot Rely Solely on Technology

The discourse towards Golden Indonesia 2045 must not focus solely on economic growth, technology, and innovation. Academics, researchers, and legislators have reminded that strengthening social sciences and humanities must be part of the national strategy so that development can create equitable and sustainable welfare. This message emerged during a National Seminar and Talkshow titled ‘The Role of Social Sciences and Humanities Towards Golden Indonesia 2045’, organised by the Master of Sociology Programme at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Nasional, in collaboration with Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Diktisaintek Berdampak, and the Association of Indonesian Sociology Study Programmes in Jakarta on Tuesday. Deputy Chair of Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Himmatul Aliyah, stated that Indonesia already has an adequate legal foundation to strengthen social sciences and humanities, from the National System of Science and Technology Law to the Higher Education Law. According to her, strengthening this field is also in line with the government’s fourth Asta Cita. She emphasised that the success of realising Golden Indonesia 2045 is not only measured by economic achievements but also determined by the quality of character, morals, integrity, and the collaborative culture of society. ‘The economic targets of Golden Indonesia 2045 will be meaningless without the foundation of character, morals, integrity, and collaboration, which are the main domains of social sciences and humanities,’ she said. In agreement, the Head of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Organisation at the National Research and Innovation Agency, Muhammad Najib Azca, assessed that the direction of national development should not only pursue technocratic indicators. He highlighted the importance of strengthening the role of social sciences in the public policy-making process. According to Najib, four strategic steps need to be taken: making social sciences and humanities a mainstream component of the National Research Roadmap, equalising research funding with STEM fields, involving social researchers from the policy formulation stage, and building collaboration between universities, BRIN, and the legislature. Meanwhile, Vice Rector I of Universitas Nasional, Professor Erna Ermawati Chotim, highlighted the imbalance in education policy, which is too oriented towards science and technology. She assessed that the dominance of scholarship allocations for STEM fields could potentially widen the shortage of human resources in the social and humanities fields. Therefore, she proposed adjusting the composition of research funding, developing a STEM curriculum integrated with the humanities, and implementing a Socio-Cultural Impact Analysis for every National Strategic Project. The Chairperson of the Association of Indonesian Sociology Programmes for the 2026–2030 period, Tyas Retno Wulan, also reminded that Indonesia needs a balance between technological mastery and strengthening social aspects. She introduced the SHAPE approach as a strategic partner to STEM in supporting national development. According to her, the reduced attention to social-humanities study programmes and the declining quota of scholarships in these fields could potentially lead to a shortage of experts, particularly sociologists with doctoral degrees, within the next one to two decades. The speakers agreed that social sciences and humanities must be positioned as the foundation of national development, not merely as a complement to science and technology. Thus, economic transformation, digitalisation, and infrastructure development can proceed alongside the strengthening of human values, social justice, and community cohesion towards Golden Indonesia 2045.