Indonesia lags in science, technology
Indonesia lags in science, technology
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Indonesia lags far behind other Asian countries in science and technology, according to State Minister of National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita.
Speaking at a seminar commemorating the golden anniversary of Gadjah Mada University's School of Engineering on Saturday, Ginandjar expressed concern at the huge disparity between Indonesia and, for example, South Korea in the field of research and development.
Despite conscious efforts to redress the situation, "We are clearly far behind our neighbors," he said.
One of the main indicators of technological adeptness in a society is the number of researchers compared to the whole population.
South Korea has 15.6 researchers for every 10,000 people. In comparison, Indonesia has only 1.8.
The amount of money poured into research and development in terms of the percentage of the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) also differs sharply.
According to Ginandjar, Korea's expenditure reach 1.92 percent of the GDP while Indonesia's is less than 0.3 percent.
Most of the money going to the science and technology field in Indonesia at the moment comes from the government. Ginandjar claimed it is growing at an annual rate of 23 percent.
He estimates that about 80 percent of all research funds currently originate from the state.
Ginandjar hopes that by the end of the second long-term development plan in the year 2019, the onus will fall more on the private sector.
He believes that, by then, 60 to 70 percent of the money allocated for science and technology will be absorbed for quality-enhancing research for private sector purposes and products. At present 70 percent of the research funds go to state institutions.
Further improvement is hoped for from a targeted increase of science and technology students.
Ginandjar said at the moment Indonesia produces about 15,000 engineering graduates a year. By the end of the second long-term development plan, the government hopes to produce about 65,000 graduates in the science and technology field a year.
Sociologist Selo Soemardjan said at the seminar that the Indonesian people cannot afford to be complacent about the current rapid development in the technological field.
He said that by every means possible Indonesians must master technology, "if not as producers of technology than as users", so the disparity in know-how does not widen further.
The professor at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta said that in the present make-up of Indonesian society, it is probably the more affluent who should take the leading role in the technological field.
"Realistically there is no choice but to depend on the elite class to take a leading role in exploiting new technology for the benefit of the whole Indonesian society," Selo said.(har/mds)