KSI Monthly Update, August 2016

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MONTHLY KSI UPDATE                                                                Aug 2016

1. On 22 August, the Indonesian Academy of Young Scientists (ALMI) celebrated its first anniversary by launching the final edition of SAINS45, ‘The Indonesian Science Agenda towards a Century of Independence’ and inaugurating 27 new members into ALMI. More than 100 prominent scientists and intellectuals attended, including former President B. J. Habibie. Three friends of KSI were elected into ALMI: Dr Yanuar Nugroho (member of KSI’s Senior Advisory Group), Dr Inaya Rakhmani (author of the KSI-supported GDN study on university barriers) and Dr Firman Witoelar (senior researcher of KSI partner SurveyMeter).
    
2. As part of strengthening a research coalition on village development, eight KSI policy research institutes (AKATIGA, Article 33, IRE, KPPOD, SMERU, Sajogyo Institute, Seknas FITRA and Puskapol UI) gathered in Yogyakarta from 11 to 12 August to consolidate their work plan on policy research and advocacy. Three thematic issues were identified on the agenda for the coalition: 1) village democratisation; 2) village empowerment and rural development; and 3) local economic development. The coalition will develop a strategy to promote these agendas by strengthening the interaction between them as knowledge producers and government policy makers.
    
3. On 2 August, KSI research partner SurveyMeter held a one-day seminar presenting the early findings of the latest Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS), an ongoing longitudinal survey of Indonesian households. Spanning more than 21 years, the IFLS is the longest longitudinal data available on Indonesia and one of the longest in any non-OECD country. Co-funded by the Indonesian, US and Australian Governments and initially hosted by RAND, SurveyMeter has moved from being an enumerator in the first round in 1994 to being co-designer and principal investigator for the latest round in 2015. In the speeches and presentations, the Government of Indonesia, represented by Yanuar Nugroho (KSP), Mesdin Simarmata (Bappenas), Gantjang Amanullah (BPS) and Elan Satriawan (TNP2K) acknowledged the significant contribution of SurveyMeter to national debates and discourse on Indonesian household socio-economic issues through providing high-quality datasets and methodologies. 
    
4. KSI’s Gender Task Force collaborated with the writers of AIPI’s white paper on ‘Higher Education in Search of Global Excellence’ to include a new sub-chapter on ‘Gender in Higher Education’ into the paper. The sub-chapter included recommendations to promote: (i) more women in university positions; (ii) a more knowledge-based economy where gender balance skills are needed; and (iii) the interaction and relevance of gender studies within academic disciplines.
    
5. KSI, PIRAC and Perhimputan Filantropi Indonesia (PFI) (the Indonesian Association for Philanthropy), co-hosted a learning forum at the Tahija Foundation in Jakarta on 25 August. Nearly 100 people from family and corporate foundations and research organisations attended the forum. The PIRAC Institute presented the KSI-commissioned diagnostic study on existing and potential philanthropy for research. Director General M. Dimyati from the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education introduced possible research themes where philanthropists have potential to contribute. The Executive Director of the Tahija Foundation, Agus Susanto, and the Yayasan Institut Danone’s Dr Widjaja Lukito talked about existing support to health and nutrition research projects. In her closing remarks, the Head of the Board for PFI, former minister and UN Ambassador, Ms Erna Witoelar, expressed her hope that this interaction could continue in future. In response, the Executive Director of PFI Indonesia, Pak Timotheus Lesmana, proposed establishing a research cluster in PFI to continue the collaboration towards philanthropy to support research.
    
6. KSI consortium partners, Dr Anthony Kent under contract from the University of Melbourne and Dr Amrih Widodo from the Australian National University, participated as international mentors in a writing clinic organised by the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education from 18 to 20 August in Bandung. In the last 10 years, the Ministry has managed these clinics, and this was the first time that international academics participated as mentors to provide feedback on draft manuscripts for submission to international journals. This support will continue with different mentors at clinics in October and November, and will provide an opportunity to advise the Ministry on developing more effective training of trainers next year.
    
7. As part of its collaboration with the Research and Development Agency (Puslitbang) of the Ministry of Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration, KSI supported the ‘International Colloquium – Knowledge Sharing in Enhancing Local Initiatives to Promote Local Economic Development in Indonesia’ from 9 to 10 August, with Professor Emil Salim as key-note speaker and Mr. Eko Putro Sandjojo, the new Minister of Villages, participating in his first public event. The event was designed to share data and research on village and rural development issues, specifically as a knowledge exchange platform between researchers and policy makers. KSI partners IRE Yogyakarta and Article 33 presented research findings on the development of village enterprises (BUM-Des) and the utilization of village grants (Dana Desa).

8. On 18 and 19 August, KSI held its first all-staff retreat at Anyer, West Java. The first day of the retreat was part of KSI’s biannual ‘learning week’ and reflected on what had been achieved thus far. There were also discussions about where KSI could make an optimal contribution to Indonesia’s knowledge sector. We used this opportunity to hear from our new team leader, Petra Karetji, about his vision for KSI. The second day of the retreat included team-building activities to build communication and mutual understanding, and also just to have fun. Highlights of the retreat included a costume-dress contest with an Indonesian Independence Day theme, a bonfire and sing-a-longs.