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)