International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.2, 2018

 

Managing challenges and cultivating collaborations in Indonesia’s knowledge society (Abstract)

 

Farah Purwaningrum

 

The transition to a knowledge society in South East Asia since the 1970s has produced differing effects in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. The paper explores the challenges and existing collaborations of Indonesia’s knowledge society. On the basis of a qualitative investigation based on interviews with 18 policy-makers in Indonesia, observations from eight meetings and documentary analysis from 2011 to 2016, the paper sheds light on the historical, structural, and scientisation problems encountered by Indonesia’s knowledge society. This includes the challenges that academia faces in scientific knowledge production at the micro level and macro level. Further, the analysis suggests that existing collaborations between different governmental levels and academia are based on trust and friendship rather than scientific pursuits. Also, collaboration between industry and academia is likely to occur when the industry acts as an initiator. The author contends that for a knowledge society to materialize in Indonesia, challenges need to be managed and certain collaborations that nurture scientific knowledge production need to be cultivated.