Mastering Technology to Strengthen Competitiveness
The 26th commemoration of National Technology Awakening Day serves as an opportunity to strengthen the national industry based on research and innovation.
By
Pradipta Pandu and Deonisia Arlinta
·4 minutes read
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – It is important to continue pursuing mastery and sovereignty of technology even amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Technology, for one, is crucial to manage and downstream various natural resources so as to produce added value and create job opportunities.
During the 26th virtual commemoration of National Technology Awakening Day in Jakarta on Tuesday (10/8/2021), President Joko Widodo commanded the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), which was established through Presidential Regulation No. 33/2021, to devise a number of strategies in order to achieve technological sovereignty and control of production.
We must become a producer of technology and even more sovereign in terms of technology.
“We must not solely rely on taking advantage of our abundant natural resources, but we must also increase added value and job opportunities through downstream industries. The key is technology,” said the President.
President Jokowi added that one of the pillars in advancing Indonesia in the future was the downstreaming of domestic industries. For instance, Indonesia must be able to develop a downstream industry of lithium batteries and produce electric cars, instead of merely owning nickel mining sites.
Pertaining to Indonesia’s hundreds of thousands of researchers and innovators as well as world-class diaspora, the President perceived this as a strength that must be consolidated and integrated. The BRIN, in this regard, must pursue new innovations and technologies from researchers and innovators to be incubated, implemented and industrialized.
Additionally, it was underlined that the BRIN must acquire advanced technology and further develop it so that Indonesia does not continue being solely a consumer of technology.
“We must become a producer of technology and even more sovereign in terms of technology,” said the President.
We need to build a strong ecosystem for research and innovation as well as foster collaboration.
BRIN head Laksana Tri Handoko said that in order to improve the country’s research ecosystem, the BRIN would provide and improve the competence of human resources for research and innovation. The BRIN would also invite members of the diaspora and experts in research to become part of the research institution. Another strategy is to create new opportunities for domestic researchers to become civil servants and join the BRIN.
The BRIN will also provide world-class infrastructure and open access for Indonesian human resources in science and technology sectors as well as the general public. This includes researchers, engineers, lecturers, university students and businesspeople.
With these strategies, it is hoped that the industry could make use of human resources and research infrastructure managed by the BRIN. This can also provide a solution for industry players in developing their respective products.
Furthermore, the BRIN will also facilitate the governance of intellectual property using a business model similar to that of industry and research institutions. On the other hand, the BRIN will act as an intermediary as well between stakeholders to utilize products of research innovations, particularly for government procurement purposes.
“We need to build a strong ecosystem for research and innovation as well as foster collaboration,” added Handoko.
Innovations during pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted a number of applicable mass-produced innovations by industry. In this regard, research and industry collaboration plays a central role.
Carina Joe, a Indonesian researcher working at the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, has been experiencing a different research ecosystem amid the pandemic. Carina is one of the Indonesians who has been involved in the development of the AstraZeneca vaccine and the acquisition of a patent.
Other than budget availability, researchers are also supported by a collaboration of experts from various fields. “If research activities are solely carried out in laboratories, the results would not be able to affect human lives. Thus, there needs to be industrial and research collaboration so that the results can be enjoyed by the people and manifest in complete facilities,” said Carina on Sunday (8/8).
A similar experience was also encountered by Eniya Listiani Dewi, head of the information technology for energy and material division at the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), and her research team while developing emergency ventilators. The concept to develop the product started in March 2020, when the first Covid-19 cases were detected in Indonesia.
At the beginning of the pandemic, ventilators were very important as at that time there were no domestic companies with the capability to produce ventilators. All necessary procedures were executed swiftly, including the process of clinical trials to ensure the quality and efficacy of the ventilators being developed. Now, there are three companies that produce ventilators, namely PT Poly Jaya Medika, PT Len Industri (Persero) and PT Dharma Precision Tools.
Another example is the innovation of a high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) device that was developed locally by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and PT Gerlink Utama Mandiri. Currently, around 2,000 HFNCs are used in several hospitals across Indonesia (Kompas, 9/8/2021).
This article was translated by Astria Zahra Nabila