Pembaca yang budiman,
berikut saya kutipkan tulisan dari website ristek.go.id, tentang wacana riset Indonesia kedepan.
Sumber: http://www.ristek.go.id/index.php?mod=News&conf=v&id=2632
Selamat berakhir pekan,
Salam,
aulia
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Kusmayanto Kadiman : Indonesia's Techno Dreams
Jumat,18 April 2008 13:17
Indonesia has already drawn a clear road map for developing research and technology up to the year 2025. It constitutes part of the long term national development plan.
During the period—if political power constellation does not throw it out—the development of research and technology will focus on six areas— food resilience endeavors, transportation, communication and information technology, energy and natural resources, as well as defense and security-related industries.
To Prof Kusmayanto Kadiman—or Pak Kus, as he is fondly referred to by close friends—Indonesia needs to make an overhaul of its food provision policy, in order to prevent food shortage, encourage farmers to grow the right crops, and ensure availability and affordability of foodstuff for all walks of life.
Revitalization of fishery, agriculture, and forestry industries must be carried out now, he suggests, adding that in implementing the policy, government decision makers must stop thinking about making easy money while losing the prospects of generating higher added value for various products and services.
Even at the risk of being removed from his ministerial position, Prof Kusmayanto is shouting aloud these days for moving a few steps forward the final stage in processing Indonesian export products because, as he suggests, only in this way can Indonesia compete confidently on the global stage.
The Minister of Maritime Resources Fredy Numberi is doing the right thing and other ministers must follow suit, Prof Kusmayanto suggests. “If you need a license to catch fish in Indonesian waters, you will surely get it provided that you build processing units or factories in Indonesia in order to export processed fishery products.”
Likewise, “if you want oil palm plantations, you will get them if you can build factories to produce cooking oils or at a later stage, bio-diesel, etc. The same is true in mining. Instead of exporting raw coal— though this is a very easy way to generate money—why don’t we elevate the processing stage by one level and export gasified and then liquefied coal which would be much smaller in volume but higher in profit?”
Policy synergy
The most crucial issue, however, is how to create synergy between the policies of different Cabinet ministers in order to produce excellence and competitiveness in domestic industry. When will Indonesia be able to imitate Brazil, for example, whose agriculture and natural resources ministries cooperate so well in producing premium fuel?
In Brazil, Kusmayanto says, up to 20% of the nominal value of premium fuel comes from bio-ethanol. It is the minister of agriculture who decides how much they must produce and this provides secure guarantee for sugarcane factories and farmers. In Indonesia’s case, the minister of agriculture does not have access even to the prices of fertilizers and rice, so how would he be able to control market prices! The minister of agriculture in Indonesia is like a farmer. This situation must be corrected, otherwise Indonesia will continue to have problems
with provision and affordability of foodstuff, agriculture analysts say.
What is needed now is overhaul of the agriculture policy from up-stream to down-stream levels so that farmers will have sure guarantee that their crops will be purchased by the government if nobody else will do. In other words, there must be an overhaul to the extent that from the level of fertilizer factories to Bulog (the national logistics agency), policy control lies in the hand of the minister of agriculture, the analysts say.
Minister Kusmayanto agrees with such a theory, saying that seen from the perspective of systemic approach, such a mechanism should have long been the case.
The biggest challenge confronting the technology minister, however, is how to tear down the notorious walls of political and vested interests in the areas where drastic changes even for the better are not allowed to happen.
In the transportation sector, Indonesia has been pampered by the lullabies of the past oil boom which caused many people—even decision makers in the bureaucracy—to assume that a single mode of transportation should be the right choice. Under current global circumstances, such an approach can no longer be used, because Indonesia has since 2004 become a net importer rather than net exporter of oil.
This is the reason why diversification of transportation policies is now necessary. For example, every year up to 200 million people use train as their main means of transportation and 80% of them are commuters in Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi) area. So now the government is developing a transit system whereby commuters can easily be transferred from trains to Trans-Jakarta buses which Jakartans refer to as “busway.”
In the area of communication and information technology, Indonesia is way behind many countries in the region. That’s why the minister of technology is putting extra energy into the endeavor by building the right infrastructure on which private sector operators can do business and thereby increase the accessibility and affordability of technology in this field.
The government’s mainstream policy is for the development of an Open Source system. “The role of the government is to offer as many choices as possible to the public. You guys on campuses who know how to go around with this, go ahead and do your part, you don’t need to buy it. But do it legally,” Prof Kusmayanto says.
What does this have to do with a planned trip to Indonesia in May 2008 by Bill Gates, the big boss of Microsoft? What Indonesia hopes to see, the minister says, is that Microsoft will “offer its products according to the minimal needs of Indonesian market.”
For instance, the software offered to village head offices does not need to be a complete package, because such offices would only need word processing, database and presentation software. As such is happening in China where only with three dollars one can have a legal package of software. And this is also a good way of preventing software piracy, the minister suggests.
Habibie’s dreams remapped
In the field of defense and security, Minister Kusmayanto is selectively building his dreams on what has been left behind by Prof BJ Habibie, in whose term of office as technology minister, Indonesia was perceived—rightly or wrongly—to have built castles in the air with
so many high-cost projects including home-made propeller planes some of which were exchanged with glutinous rice from Thailand.
So big the discrepancy between spending and revenue in this area that even a former senior cabinet minister once said, “Before learning to fly, we need to learn to walk first.” But this does not mean that the Indonesian aircraft industry is a waste. In fact, as explained by Prof Kusmayanto, “Since Habibie is an expert in making the products, I am an expert in selling them.”
In Kusmayanto’s eyes, PT Dirgantara Indonesia can perform even better if its CN235 has bigger market penetration ability domestically, especially among the military, police, and various government agencies. More so if there is a meaningful intake from the domestic
private sector.
For fairness’ sake, however, what is worth mentioning of the strategy left behind by Habibie is his ambition to turn Indonesia’s defense industry into independent and profit-generating centers. Some of the so-called “strategic industries” (BUMNIS) which used to be a loss center is now experiencing high growth, especially PT Pindad. This company has now been able to produce six-wheel battle tanks, hand-grenades, various types of ammunition, organic revolvers, combat machine guns, mountain cannons, long-range sniper guns, etc.
Precision-wise, the difference between Pindad’s weapons and those used to produce world records in shooting is very small, the minister explains.
Along with Pindad, other BUMNIS companies are expected to see high growth in the years ahead now that the President has made it compulsory for Indonesian Military (TNI) and Police to buy their equipments from domestic producers, except for products that are not available domestically.
Nevertheless, what Kusmayanto is doing is not exactly realizing Habibie’s high-tech dreams, but carefully selecting the ones which can be implemented realistically in conformity with Indonesia’s financing ability while introducing his own concepts in line with the long-term development plan.
Even then, Kusmayanto refuses to go high profile because, as he tells CampusAsia, “the trauma of the past is still alive in society.” This seems to be a reference to the extra-lavish spending in high-tech projects during Soeharto’s era which failed to create meaningful employment opportunities, had no impact on the drive to reduce poverty, and failed to bolster domestic industries. (CAMPUSASIA.CO.ID/foto : humasristek)
During the period—if political power constellation does not throw it out—the development of research and technology will focus on six areas— food resilience endeavors, transportation, communication and information technology, energy and natural resources, as well as defense and security-related industries.
To Prof Kusmayanto Kadiman—or Pak Kus, as he is fondly referred to by close friends—Indonesia needs to make an overhaul of its food provision policy, in order to prevent food shortage, encourage farmers to grow the right crops, and ensure availability and affordability of foodstuff for all walks of life.
Revitalization of fishery, agriculture, and forestry industries must be carried out now, he suggests, adding that in implementing the policy, government decision makers must stop thinking about making easy money while losing the prospects of generating higher added value for various products and services.
Even at the risk of being removed from his ministerial position, Prof Kusmayanto is shouting aloud these days for moving a few steps forward the final stage in processing Indonesian export products because, as he suggests, only in this way can Indonesia compete confidently on the global stage.
The Minister of Maritime Resources Fredy Numberi is doing the right thing and other ministers must follow suit, Prof Kusmayanto suggests. “If you need a license to catch fish in Indonesian waters, you will surely get it provided that you build processing units or factories in Indonesia in order to export processed fishery products.”
Likewise, “if you want oil palm plantations, you will get them if you can build factories to produce cooking oils or at a later stage, bio-diesel, etc. The same is true in mining. Instead of exporting raw coal— though this is a very easy way to generate money—why don’t we elevate the processing stage by one level and export gasified and then liquefied coal which would be much smaller in volume but higher in profit?”
Policy synergy
The most crucial issue, however, is how to create synergy between the policies of different Cabinet ministers in order to produce excellence and competitiveness in domestic industry. When will Indonesia be able to imitate Brazil, for example, whose agriculture and natural resources ministries cooperate so well in producing premium fuel?
In Brazil, Kusmayanto says, up to 20% of the nominal value of premium fuel comes from bio-ethanol. It is the minister of agriculture who decides how much they must produce and this provides secure guarantee for sugarcane factories and farmers. In Indonesia’s case, the minister of agriculture does not have access even to the prices of fertilizers and rice, so how would he be able to control market prices! The minister of agriculture in Indonesia is like a farmer. This situation must be corrected, otherwise Indonesia will continue to have problems
with provision and affordability of foodstuff, agriculture analysts say.
What is needed now is overhaul of the agriculture policy from up-stream to down-stream levels so that farmers will have sure guarantee that their crops will be purchased by the government if nobody else will do. In other words, there must be an overhaul to the extent that from the level of fertilizer factories to Bulog (the national logistics agency), policy control lies in the hand of the minister of agriculture, the analysts say.
Minister Kusmayanto agrees with such a theory, saying that seen from the perspective of systemic approach, such a mechanism should have long been the case.
The biggest challenge confronting the technology minister, however, is how to tear down the notorious walls of political and vested interests in the areas where drastic changes even for the better are not allowed to happen.
In the transportation sector, Indonesia has been pampered by the lullabies of the past oil boom which caused many people—even decision makers in the bureaucracy—to assume that a single mode of transportation should be the right choice. Under current global circumstances, such an approach can no longer be used, because Indonesia has since 2004 become a net importer rather than net exporter of oil.
This is the reason why diversification of transportation policies is now necessary. For example, every year up to 200 million people use train as their main means of transportation and 80% of them are commuters in Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi) area. So now the government is developing a transit system whereby commuters can easily be transferred from trains to Trans-Jakarta buses which Jakartans refer to as “busway.”
In the area of communication and information technology, Indonesia is way behind many countries in the region. That’s why the minister of technology is putting extra energy into the endeavor by building the right infrastructure on which private sector operators can do business and thereby increase the accessibility and affordability of technology in this field.
The government’s mainstream policy is for the development of an Open Source system. “The role of the government is to offer as many choices as possible to the public. You guys on campuses who know how to go around with this, go ahead and do your part, you don’t need to buy it. But do it legally,” Prof Kusmayanto says.
What does this have to do with a planned trip to Indonesia in May 2008 by Bill Gates, the big boss of Microsoft? What Indonesia hopes to see, the minister says, is that Microsoft will “offer its products according to the minimal needs of Indonesian market.”
For instance, the software offered to village head offices does not need to be a complete package, because such offices would only need word processing, database and presentation software. As such is happening in China where only with three dollars one can have a legal package of software. And this is also a good way of preventing software piracy, the minister suggests.
Habibie’s dreams remapped
In the field of defense and security, Minister Kusmayanto is selectively building his dreams on what has been left behind by Prof BJ Habibie, in whose term of office as technology minister, Indonesia was perceived—rightly or wrongly—to have built castles in the air with
so many high-cost projects including home-made propeller planes some of which were exchanged with glutinous rice from Thailand.
So big the discrepancy between spending and revenue in this area that even a former senior cabinet minister once said, “Before learning to fly, we need to learn to walk first.” But this does not mean that the Indonesian aircraft industry is a waste. In fact, as explained by Prof Kusmayanto, “Since Habibie is an expert in making the products, I am an expert in selling them.”
In Kusmayanto’s eyes, PT Dirgantara Indonesia can perform even better if its CN235 has bigger market penetration ability domestically, especially among the military, police, and various government agencies. More so if there is a meaningful intake from the domestic
private sector.
For fairness’ sake, however, what is worth mentioning of the strategy left behind by Habibie is his ambition to turn Indonesia’s defense industry into independent and profit-generating centers. Some of the so-called “strategic industries” (BUMNIS) which used to be a loss center is now experiencing high growth, especially PT Pindad. This company has now been able to produce six-wheel battle tanks, hand-grenades, various types of ammunition, organic revolvers, combat machine guns, mountain cannons, long-range sniper guns, etc.
Precision-wise, the difference between Pindad’s weapons and those used to produce world records in shooting is very small, the minister explains.
Along with Pindad, other BUMNIS companies are expected to see high growth in the years ahead now that the President has made it compulsory for Indonesian Military (TNI) and Police to buy their equipments from domestic producers, except for products that are not available domestically.
Nevertheless, what Kusmayanto is doing is not exactly realizing Habibie’s high-tech dreams, but carefully selecting the ones which can be implemented realistically in conformity with Indonesia’s financing ability while introducing his own concepts in line with the long-term development plan.
Even then, Kusmayanto refuses to go high profile because, as he tells CampusAsia, “the trauma of the past is still alive in society.” This seems to be a reference to the extra-lavish spending in high-tech projects during Soeharto’s era which failed to create meaningful employment opportunities, had no impact on the drive to reduce poverty, and failed to bolster domestic industries. (CAMPUSASIA.CO.ID/foto : humasristek)
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