Over recent weeks there has been a flurry of statements and announcements about “opening the Indonesian tertiary education sector to foreign universities”. I have seen this discourse ebb and flow over the past 25 years. The following summarises some of the most common arguments for and against this proposition. Proponents of the proposition argue in […]
Skills Futures
Indonesia’s Grand Agenda: Developing 58 Million Skilled Workers in the Next Decade
After staking his presidency on infrastructure development, President Joko Widodo will now shift his focus to human capital development to add 58 million skilled workers to make Indonesia the world’s seventh largest economy by 2030. The success of its ambition – in building hundreds of new ports and airports, developing 10 new Bali, or in […]
Education Minister Announces Funding For New Australia-Indonesia Initiative
Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham has announced $2.7 million in international education funding, including policy collaboration between Australia and Indonesia. As part of the Australian government’s first National Strategy for International Education, Minister Birmingham said in a press release, “This funding will support 14 innovative projects to help strengthen and grow Australia’s booming […]
How Indonesia and Australia could be part of the journey to Mars
Scientific and technological progress depend entirely on collaboration. As a result, they are the perfect conduit for it. In the process of producing new knowledge together, Australians and Indonesians can not only bring both nations closer; they could also be part of the next breakthrough. When Albert Einstein formulated the theory of general relativity, he […]
My opinion of Innovation
Innovation in developing countries, such as Indonesia, is rarely spoken of in many circles. It’s possibly because of the lack of knowledge about its meaning and how it applies in real life. I see innovation as the new way to solve any number of problems with different and unique approaches from our cumulative creative knowledge. […]
Former minister Mari Pangestu on no-nonsense policy making
A seasoned minister who has served at the helm of both the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Mari Pangestu carved out a career as a no-nonsense policymaker who favoured facts and figures over political ties and rhetoric. This Q&A was first published by the Knowledge Sector Initiative in […]