Jakarta Government Strengthens Education, Research, and Innovation Ecosystem
Jakarta (ANTARA) – The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government is strengthening the higher education, research and innovation ecosystem through the establishment of the Jakarta Education and Innovation Centre, in order to realise Jakarta as a global city capable of producing excellent, innovative talent that offers solutions to various urban challenges.
“The establishment of the Jakarta Education and Innovation Centre is a strategic step to strengthen collaboration between the government, universities, research institutes, the business community and international partners,” said DKI Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung while opening the Focus Group Discussion on the Establishment of the Jakarta Education and Innovation Centre at City Hall, Jakarta, on Wednesday.
According to him, cross-sector collaboration is the key to producing innovations capable of answering urban challenges while enhancing Jakarta’s global competitiveness.
“Jakarta has enormous challenges as well as potential. That is why we want to make Jakarta the birthplace of research and innovation that can answer urban problems and deliver real benefits to society,” said Pramono.
He considered the diversity of the population, economic dynamism, and the complexity of urban issues to make Jakarta an ideal living laboratory for the development of education, research and innovation.
Therefore, he said, investment in education and research is a long-term investment to strengthen Jakarta’s competitiveness as a global city.
Previously, AT Kearney, together with Georgetown University, had also held discussions with Danantara to formulate incentive schemes that could increase Jakarta’s appeal as a location for establishing internationally benchmarked universities.
Through the forum, it is hoped that policy recommendations will emerge on the institutional model, governance, international partnerships, regulatory support, and the implementation roadmap of the Jakarta Education and Innovation Centre.
All the results of the discussions will be followed up by the DKI Jakarta Provincial Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) as one of the references in drafting policies and programme implementation plans.
“We hope this cooperation continues. Going forward, we want more world-class universities and research institutions to collaborate in Jakarta, so that education and innovation become a new strength to boost Jakarta’s competitiveness as a global city,” Pramono concluded.
The FGD was attended by representatives of various national and international universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford University, Georgetown University, Seoul National University (SNU), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Peking University, Brown University, The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Monash University Indonesia, the University of Indonesia (UI), Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Jakarta State University (UNJ), and a number of other institutions.
In addition, there were representatives from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and AT Kearney, as well as several ministries providing strategic input for the development of the Jakarta Education and Innovation Centre.