The Role of Academic in Narrowing Digital Divide

Budi RahardjoDirector of Research & Development Center

on Industry and Information TechnologyInstitut Teknologi Bandung

2004

http://budi.insan.co.idhttp://budi.insan.co.id/presentations/academic-digital-

divide.ppt

Presented at Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) Regional Forumfor ICT Experts in South-East Asia, 4-5 February 2004, Jakarta, Indonesia

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Summary

• Roles of academic– Human Resource Development– Technology Development– Content Development– Catalyst in Entrepreneurship

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Human Resource Development

• ICT is a new area, human resources are still scarce globally

• HR development natural task for academician

• Train/teach– Technical: IT specific workers– Non-technical: the use of IT at work,

at home

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HRD in Indonesia

• Problems– Wide gap between developed area (cities)

and rural area– Low-level literacy, not just IT literacy– Teaching teachers is one approach, but the

quality of teachers varies. Mostly low, but students quality increases

– Most students only want the degree, not the skill / knowledge

– Lack of commitment of academicians

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HRD problems (2)

– Access (infrastructure) is still limited and is sometimes unaffordable. Even there is no electricity in some parts.

– Formal IT certifications are relatively expensive

– IT equipments are (still) relatively expensive and not a priority. It’s just nice to have.

– Too much intellectual property protection. Expensive!

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Initiatives

• Various initiatives in Indonesia– Upgrading teachers capability (e.g..

Vocational school teachers)• In using IT• In teaching IT

– Introduction to IT to various schools and communities

• Roadshow: formal & informal

– Results: too early to tell, but there is an increase in ICT users

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Technology Development

• Part of academicians’ job, especially who focus on research

• Develop technology that is applicable (affordable, culturally accepted) locally.– While technologies are neutral, the success

of their implementation/use depends on culture

• There are research centers in Indonesia, but most are still struggling

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Problem in Tech Development

• Development is expensive and fund is limited

• Delopment cycle is short and fast• Lack of IT high-skill Human

Resource• Production (e.g. hardware products)

in Indonesia economically is not viable

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Content Development

• Academicians have knowledge that can be shared (help to share)

• Content can be formal and informal

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Problems in content development

• Lack of local / appropriate contents, especially for school kids / children. Contents in Indonesia are mostly entertainment & news … and things that lead to consumerism not productivity

• Most contents are in English• Culturally, we are not a reading culture.

Plus low level literacy• Sharing is not common

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Entrepreneurship

• Brings practice to theory• Produce Inovations …• Provide places to work / employment• Academicians act as catalyst

– By encouraging students to start companies– By starting companies– Incubating start up companies:

“Pusat Inkubator Bisnis” (Business Incubator Center) at ITB

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Bandung High Tech Valleyhttp://www.bhtv.web.id

kurusetra.com

INTI Technopark

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Concluding Remarks

• There are still problems, but we are committed to eliminate them

• Some of the problems are global problems, we have to solve the together