"In the future, research could provide benefits to the society in order to improve peoples welfare. Hence, it is not only about research fund but also the research itself that must generate innovation that can really improve the welfare of Indonesian society," he said, while giving a speech during the first anniversary celebrations of the partnership fund, named UK-Indonesia Science and Technology Fund, in the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education Office in Jakarta on Wednesday.
He stated that Indonesia and the United Kingdom were collaborating to improve research innovation, science development, and technology through the partnership fund.
"The total budget spent on this partnership scheme was 14.5 million pounds, or Rp240 billion," he revealed.
The partnership fund was launched in March 2016 and will last until 2021.
"We must account for it (research funding) properly. Do not carry coals to Newcastle. The fund must not be spent on useless things but should be utilized to finance research to provide benefits and generate value to the society," he revealed.
He sought all Indonesian researchers, inventors, and innovators to collaborate with universities in the United Kingdom to produce more innovation to be used by start-up companies at an international level.
Hence, the start-up companies in Indonesia could continue to grow and develop to be international firms.
He stated that all researchers could fully utilize opportunities of doing research through the partnership fund, so that they could generate innovation which is beneficial for the welfare of the society.
He requested that the research results should not merely become a pile of paper stored in the library but should produce innovation that is beneficial for Indonesias society.
Research on technology, science, and innovation could cover the areas of food and agriculture, food security, health and medicine, information and communication, transportation, advanced materials and nanotechnology, defense technology, and renewable energy.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
