SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA ON GOVERNMENT LEADERS FORUM, MAY 9TH, 2008
SPEECH
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
ON
GOVERNMENT LEADERS FORUM
SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, JAKARTA
MAY 9th, 2008
Bismillaahirrahmaanirrahiim,
Assalaamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuh,
Peace be upon us,
Before I deliver my speech, I would like to make a little comment on what had been excelently presented by Mr. Bill Gates and Mr. Craig Mundie. Alvin Toffler, the author of Future Shock of The Third Wave, and of Powershift, once said, there are three waves of civilizations. They, agricultural society, industrial society, and information society. And to be frank, we, Indonesia, have too these three types of society. In my speech, I may mention several situations and conditions that maybe very much incontrast with what we have seen on the screen, the health future vision. Eventhough, part of our society, specially on the information type society, may follow and may join this new technology and our task as a leader to accelerate the process in bringing our society for the better future. That’s my little comment on this, before I deliver my speech.
Mr. Bill Gates, Mr. Craig Mundie, Excellencies, Distinguished Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a pleasure for me to join all of you at this closing plenary session of the Government Leaders Forum Asia 2008. Before anything else, I wish to thank Mr. Bill Gates, Mr. Craig Mundie, and Microsoft for bringing the Government Leaders Forum to Jakarta. The Government of Indonesia is privileged to partner with Microsoft in organizing this important forum. I am very pleased to see so many governments and bussiness leaders from all over the world gathered here to focus on how to realize technologies brighters and most significant promise. The deliverance of the teeming millions from the grips of ignorance diseases and poverty. The theme of this forum is therefore appropriate and for Indonesia most timely serving the citizens, the transformative power of information technology in delivering government services, particularly, in the field of education, healthcare, and sustainable development. That theme is close to my heart, since it is all about serving the people. And, serving and protecting the people is what governance is all about, a respective of political system, historical background, or cultural conditions. Serving the people is about improving their lives, responding to their basic needs and assurations, enabling them to lift up to their potentials and ensuring them not just equality but also equal opportunity.
All the years, I have been in public service, I had been amazed to see beautiful minds, wonderful talents and great potentials in the countless individual that I meet all over the country. It is the greatness of God Almighty, Allah SWT. That spreads the power of imagination, evenly, to all human beings, rich or poor, old and young. But the sad reality is that many of these potentials remain hidden and locked rather than developed and unleashed. There are many families who had been locked in poverty and ignorance for generations simply because they lack the enabling and empowerment tool to escape that cycle.
I do believe that information technology is the most promising and potent cure that the world has ever known to fight the par rows of poverty and ignorance. Fifty years ago, someone in the remote Sumatran village would need to cross oceans and spend a lot of money, in order to gain access to worldly knowledge and information. But today, any individual, even in the most remote place, can have instant access to 50 billion pages of information about anything, with a single click of the mouse. It is simply amazing. And a global citizen in the 21st century, not only have the right to life, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness. He or she, regardless of his or her nationality, race, religion, or income also has the right to an e-mail address with large or unlimited memories space. This is truly a fascinating digital democracy, and I believe we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg.
As the internet grows and becomes more accessible to more citizens around the world. With the help of information technology, any government can deliver services to the people much faster and more efficiently. But to us in Indonesia, with a population of 230 million, the task is great challenge. In the field of education, for instance, we have 55 million students, 2.7 million teachers, and 293 thousands schools. Thus, it is a difficult struggle for us to meet the goal of connecting half of all educationally citizen in an ICT network, and achieving 50 % national illiteracy by 2015. We are facilitating e-learning by creating the infrastructure for schools and students to be connected. The target for 2009 is to connect 1,3 million computers in our schools. We must also develop and provide e-books and interactive educational program for this network. We will need all the help that we can get in this effort.
In government and in the private business sector, information technology can help increase productivity, efficiency, responsiveness, transparency, and accountability as we have known. Not only has, it enabled government to deliver services faster and more efficiently, it has also empowered the people by giving them easier access to information about the work of government. It has enabled them to monitor and get involved in policy implementations.
Let me give you the simplest example. At the start of my term, I introduce the use of SMS to interact with the whole nation. Anyone can send me a message on 9949. I was immediately buried in an avalanche of messages telling me what to do, to solve the nation’s problem, and also score of SMS containing personal, including marital problems. But my office has been able to cope with very well. Relevant complaints are, as a matter of course, passed on to the relevant authorities for prompt actions. A more complex example is the rule of information technology in our national elections. Without it, this fundamental political exercise would have been extremely difficult to carry out in this archipelago of 17.000 islands, covering 3 time zones.
We have some 150 million citizens of voting age spread over 5100 districts, going to some 600.000 polling booth. In 2004, they went to the polls 2 times. Once to elect members of the parliament, and twice to elect the president and the vice president. Between 2005 and now, this process had been split out in 33 provinces and 430 districts to directly elect local officials. It used to take weeks before we knew the final result of a national election. In 2004, it took only hours to get a fairly accurate quick count.
In times of national disaster, information technology has served us in good step. The post disaster database on Aceh and North Sumatera have speed up recovery and rehabilitations of communities devastated by the tsunami of December 2004. Using IT, we have stimulated our bureaucrat, our bureaucracies, and had an efficiency and transparency of our governance. We are now into e-procurement. Our people are paying taxes and applying for Driver License and Identity Card on line. Next year will be offering to our exporters and importers a computerized national single window to their great convenience. And, finally, I am proud to say the creative economy, the fourth wave of economic development is now very much in evidence in Indonesia because it is based on human creativity and innovation and usually in work, in network of small and medium enterprises, it can lead to sustainable growth.
Our creative industries such as handicrafts, fashion, design, architecture, advertising, electronic media production, theperforming arts, publication, software and other computer services and interactive games are already going global while serving our lots home market. They made up 6,3% of the national economy and account for 5,8% of job creation, 7% of the numbers of companies, and 10% of exports, and they are growing at the rate higher than the rest of the economy. For instance, some 100 Indonesian films are now produced every year, 4 times the number produced 5 years ago. Most cinemas, now, show Indonesian films. Some 50% of the music, played in Indonesia is locally created. Home grown industries in software, animation, and interactive games are now being outsourced internationally. It has greatly helped that our people are blessed with a rich cultural heritage. Indeed, we have a young C-generation, creative generation we can be proud of. For example, graphic designer, Alvin Kisana, is only 32, but he designed the website for Nokia. In the process, he parleyed a one computer, one employer operations to an enterprise with 60 employees. Castle Rock is a local animation company that employs young people providing animation services for international producers. A custom made guitar manufacturer, Mr. Toin, sells guitar to famous musicians abroad. A rattan exporter, Mr. Tonton, of Rattan Land, increases his export from 30.000 dollars to 1,6 million dollars, a year over the last 6 years. A growing number of our SME’s are selling to customers abroad through the Internet. Many of our music groups have their popular songs being used as ringtones all over the world.
In this and many other success stories, information technology has been a vital factor, still the challenges we face in the use of information technology are formidable. In the first place, we still need to prepare our society for wider use of information technology. We need to open the mind of our people, to innovation and to win them away from over dependent on the web of our natural resources and on tradition of paternalism. In the second place, whether we like it or not, there is a digital divide, the gap is widening between the information technology have and have not. There is a real danger that the world poor will be virtually excluded from the emerging knowledge based global economy with dual consequences to global peace and security.
In Indonesia, a vast archipelagic country with a vast geography with an immense variety of demographic, ethnic, cultural, and religious groupings, we can afford a digital device across and within communities. This is a threat to national unity that we must effectively manage. We have therefore taken rigorous messages to address this reality.
First, we are reviewing our laws and regulations with a view to prompting all government agencies and institution toward e-government. We have just passed the first cyber law in Indonesia which provides robust legal bases for electronic transaction. We are strengthening our intellectual properties right laws and regulations and enforcing them strictly. That is why we are no longer on the USTR priority watch list.
Second, we are creating a national backbone to connect all of Indonesia including the remote role areas of Eastern Indonesia. This is the Palapa Ring Project. We also extending connectivity to villages so that our farmer can easily obtain information from the world at large on prices, demand, supply, and technologies they need.
Third, we are promoting e-literacy through the education system and a society as a whole. We are reforming our institution that have to do with information technology.
Fourth, we are increasing the use of information technology across the broad by accelerating its application in the government and private sector. This is a top priority as it is an important sector in the growth of the e-economy. Moreover, we are preparing an action plan for the development of the creative industries. We aim to raise your share of economy and your capacity to absorb the labor force from 6 to 8%. We intend to double the number of companies in this sector and hike your export volume to 12% by 2015.
Fifth, we are actively cooperating with IT industries and businesses to achieve this objective. One example is our cooperation with Microsoft which I personally initiated during my meeting with Mr. Bill Gates in Seattle in 2005. My government is cooperating with Microsoft in many ways. Through its innovation centres and its learning programs we will cooperate with any other company that offers to work with us the way Microsoft is doing now.
Distinguished participants Ladies and Gentlemen,
Indonesia today is undergoing profound transformation while the main force – I should say – while the main driving force this process is the spirit of reform, political, social, and economic reform, it is also true that this reformation is greatly helped along by the blessing of science and technology by the blessing, especially Information Technology. We are after all part of a world that is being transformed by the magics of software. That is why I am particularly pleased at our cooperation with Microsoft. It has global context. It is part and partial of a movement involving international civil society in which Microsoft is a leading line. This is a very informal but real global partnership of government, corporation and non profit that is now addressing the greatest challenge of our time and that is the challenge of poverty.
Earlier this year in Davos, Mr. Bill Gates challenged the government, corporation, and non profit of the world. He challenged all of us to engage in what he calls creative capitalism as a way of addressing problems of education, healthcare and sustainable development. He proposed that we harness the forces of the market to bring about a better life for the teeming millions who otherwise would be left behind by progress. And I have good news for Mr. Bill Gates, the creative economy that we are forming in Indonesia is our answer to this challenge. To this creative economy, we are partnering with Microsoft and other corporations as well as with the civil society of this country in a strong bit to extend the raise of market forces. The market represent them natural and robust human desire for profit and recognition. Through the creative economy we can make the market do more for more people than it ever did before. We can make the market the servant rather than the enemy of social justice. Through the creative economy, we will give globalization a human face and also give the market a human soul.
I thank you.
Wassalaamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuh.
Question and answer:
Moderator (Mr. Craig Mundie, Chief Research & Strategy Officer Microsoft Corporation):
One of this people, a delegate from India, was a long following lines, political leaders and policy makers are frequently a bottle neck in growth and deployment of information and communication technology for variety of reasons. Now, as a leader, how do you motivate the policy of government to be more aggressive in use of this technology?
President:
Yes. The task of the government, actually, to educate all people to promote understanding of all us on the importance of the use of IT, in various field of life. The government has the obligation to ensure that we have correct law, correct policies, and correct regulations. But, the private sectors, the universities, must also contribute to the promotion of people awareness and understanding of this new tool that can improve the life of their people or them. Of course, we have to build more infrastructures, across the regions, computers, the system, internet, and other software, along with our capacity. That will improve, actually, the overall understanding of our people on the potential of internet and computer, and to improve the capacity of this nation in various field, education, governance, healthcare, and others. Those things that in my view, has to be done by developing countries, especially by Indonesia, realizing that we have many challenges that we have to overcome local conditions. But I believe very strong and optimistic with this correct policy, with this correct direction we’ll be able to improve the overall condition of this country in sense of applying IT in our all system, in this country.
Bill Gates:
I understand, that I think, the President, there’s three things from Indonesia that probably best practices. The President, personal in ICT council bringing in young technically savvy people into the government and then setting ambitious goals, see to know, they all won’t be mad, they’re driving for it.
Moderator:
If there is delegate would like to ask a question from the floor? Okay, I’ll have another one.
Audience:
This is a question I think that both Bill and Mr. President may have a comment on. We saw today in Bill’s speech, a young student who’s obviously a depth user of these technologies. Our young people are gonna grow up more and more through computers, cell phones, televisions, whether smart or tremendous access to these technologies in the internet. So the question is how do we maintain a balance between the positive and negative uses of the internet, particularly, as they effect children? We see many issues, criminal activities increasing, military activities increasing, and you know, undesirable materials is clearly available on the internet. What do you think the issues and challenges are for technological, for policy, and legal point of view to make the internet a save place for kids?
Bill Gates:
Ok, I’ll start. There’re clearly some laws that preventing take e-mail, making through the content is label appropriately for what it is. So if it’s not appropriate for children, the filtering software can immediately see that, or there are some legal steps that very helpful. I also think that parental involvement is important, I mean, when your kids reach deserved needs. I will be talking to them about what they are seen on the internet. The software allows you to create a lock, you can go and look at the different places they are visiting. After very young, you can set strong filters so that you might loosen that up. If they know you can see what they’re doing, they’ll probably communicate with you more about that, and so it’s very similar with what we have to do with material and cram tips, exist in the internet makes it more important because the access to the good and the bad is so much more efficient.
President:
I want to answer from different perspective. There is always a challenge for every nation, every government, how to make a balance between liberty and security. We have to look at clearly, on the good side of technology and the bad side of that thing. For me, the most important one is to teach, to educate the student, the people. How should we utilize this technology for the benefit of our people, our nation. Education is a good track to, actually, build this understanding, this awareness. Education is not only transferring knowledge, in the vision of technology, but also creating values, characters. That’s why, number one is we have to maintain character building through education. We have to strengthen the societal ethics and norms. And last but not least, we have to have effective law enforcement messages. I think we have to do all those things, all the messages, with one single understanding that we have to be more creative, to be more innovative to utilize wisely and carefully the advance of technology, and we have to work collectively, the nations, the teachers, the parents, every body, to avoid the wrong use of this technology. This is my perspective on this.
Biro Naskah dan Penerjemahan,
Deputi Mensesneg Bidang Dukungan Kebijakan,
Sekretariat Negara RI