Research in the Vice Presidential Debate

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

Vice presidential candidate number 01 Ma\'ruf Amin (second left) along with vice presidential candidate number 02 Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno (second right), accompanied by moderator Alfito Deannova Ginting (far left) and Putri Ayuningtyas (far right), take part in the vice presidential candidate debate held by the General Election Commission (KPU) at Sultan Hotel, Jakarta, Sunday evening March 17. During the debate, Ma\'ruf and Sandiaga shared their views on education, health, employment and social and cultural matters.

We appreciate that both vice-presidential candidates conveyed their views on research during the debate that took place on Sunday night.

We also appreciate the panelists who included this topic on the list of questions for the candidates. Indeed, research and innovation is an important thing for the national leadership, especially if it is associated with the “Indonesia 2045” vision, which aims to make the country the world’s 10th largest economy.

From the debate, we heard vice-presidential candidate Ma’ruf Amin conveying the idea of a National Research Agency that could unite research activities in the country. Opponent Sandiaga Uno responded by saying the formation of a new agency would only add to bureaucratic burdens. This is one of seven differences that emerged during the debate.

There are two notes related to the research topic. First, relating to its urgency, it cannot be denied that a developed country with advancements in various fields, especially science, technology and economy, must have advanced research capabilities as witnessed in South Korea and China.

In the final report of the National Innovation Committee (KIN) under former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, there were two scenarios. First, economic growth should be supported by innovations and, second, is an economy that is managed without innovation, which is solely based on trade and consumption. An economy without innovation shows a flat growth curve while one with innovations shows a more exponential curve.

A common question, which also emerged during the debate, is what kind of research should we do? One candidate said there were already various types of research being conducted by Indonesian researchers, but none had provided significant results for economic performances.

This is where this type of research begins to be questioned. What this country needs are researchers that have links to the industry. In popular language, there should be “links and matches”. We agree with this view. But, there are other factors in play, namely our will, whether we want to use the outcome of national research or do we continue to love buying foreign-made products.

From the experience and observation into research activities in the country, there are many good research results that are abandoned because neither the industries nor government agencies are interested in developing the research.

For the next stage, we will also have to allocate funds for pure scientific research for the development of science and technology. This pure research can give us a scientific tradition and the capacity to understand nature, as well as new phenomena, such as artificial intelligence.

Ma’ruf hopes that with the National Research Agency we can unite research in the ministry. We also have non-ministerial research institutions. Perhaps, organizations can help. However, more important is our commitment to adopt the results of research and innovation that have the potential to be developed into goods and machinery that we need.