Accelerating Development, Government Strengthens Needs-Based Research

The government, through the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Kemdiktisaintek) and the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), continues to promote the strengthening of research oriented towards real societal needs to accelerate development in the regions. Director General of Research and Development at Kemdiktisaintek, Fauzan Adziman, in a statement in Jakarta on Thursday, explained that the government has prepared an integrated research ecosystem to ensure the relevance and impact of research in the regions. “One of the key steps taken is the compilation of a bank of problem formulations gathered from local governments and industries, as a reference in preparing research proposals at universities,” said Fauzan. He also outlined the national research funding scheme, divided into priority research for equitable capacity distribution and strategic research for impactful solutions. This support is strengthened through collaboration with BRIN, partnerships with industry, and the utilisation of the national research portal risbang.kemdiktisaintek.go.id, which provides access to tens of thousands of research data and a map of research distribution. “In addition, various programmes such as Mahasiswa Berdampak and Kosabangsa are introduced to strengthen the involvement of universities in community empowerment,” Fauzan stated. In agreement with Fauzan, BRIN Head Arif Satria emphasised the importance of building an innovation-based economy amid global challenges. He encouraged the strengthening of research and innovation through increased investment and collaboration between the government, universities, and industry, including the acceleration of technology adoption in society.