Several issues in Indonesia related to computer science and academic

As a developing country, Indonesia is not a leading country in science and technology, as well as

very little number of researches in science and technology, particularly in the field of computer

science and engineering. To increase the number of publication by Indonesian scientist and

researcher, this year the Indonesian government has allocated more than US$230 million to

support develop the research in science and technology. It is less than 0.1 percent of the total

expenditure for research and development. The research and application in computer science and

engineering has played very important role for this nation. Because Indonesia has unique

geography due to Indonesia has of over 17,000 islands and population is about 250 million, and

about 70% live in Java Island. In Indonesia, the application of Information Technology is very

important in all area such as agriculture, nation security, academic, etc. The application of

information technology will help to develop agriculture as a driver of food security,

environmental sustainability and economic opportunity.

This year, Indonesia has population around 245 million people, this made Indonesia become the

fourth largest population in the world after China, India, and United State of America. With

population growth 1.49 percent per year, the estimated of Indonesia population will increase to

more than 300 million people in the year 2030. As we already know, the higher number

population, it will create more complex social problems, in particular are medical and public

health problems. The issue is the number and quality of medical doctor. In this country, 3

medical doctors serving for 10,000 people compared to Malaysia 9 doctors serving for 10,000

people, Singapore 20 medical doctors serving 10,000 people and Vietnam 12 medical doctors

serving for 10,000 people. In this case many medical doctors work more than12 hours a day to

serve 50 to 100 patients per day, and will impact to the quality of services, and also they do not

have much time to improve their knowledge and skill. On the other hand, the numbers of student

who study in medical doctor are very low, because the cost or tuition fee to study medical doctor

is very high for most Indonesian. Another issue is the Medical Technology Equipment. High-
tech medical equipment in a hospital will be the main attraction for the patient. In Indonesia was

in fact that this country has not been able to make high-tech medical equipment. About 90% of

medical equipment in Indonesia to this day still has to be imported. Even though the

ultrasonography (USG) that use simple technology, it is still have to be imported.

In fact, some manufacturer in this country has been able to make medical devices such as

tensimeter. They are exported to the U.S. or Germany. But yes it was, because always import, the

health care institution in Indonesia as incredulous with the quality of local products. The problem

is the import duties and taxes for medical equipment very expensive in Indonesia; this will

increase the cost for health care.

The telecommunication industry has played an important role in the development of Indonesia’s

economy over the last few years. Not only has it increased connectivity across the country, it has

also helped in stimulating other sectors of the economy like banking, finance, software,

hospitality and trading. Telecommunication services in Indonesia was divided into several

categories, such as mobile cellular services, fixed line services, internet and broadband services,

mobile valued added services and telecom infrastructure services. In mobile cellular itself,

Indonesia was the world’s fifth largest telecommunication market after China, India, USA and

Russia. It is also one of the fastest growing markets in the world. That because of this country

has population around 245 million people. In the past three years to December 2012 the mobile

subscriber grew from 150 million to 280 million. It means that penetration of cellular phone is

117%. So there is a huge potential market in this country in telecommunication business.

The number of internet users in Indonesia was estimated at 54 million by early 2013. At the same

time, the fixed internet subscription market was generally just 5.5 million subscribers by end-

2012. Broadband subscriptions are certainly growing. The expansion of mobile broadband in

particular was offering real promise to the internet market as uptake of new generation services

accelerates.

While it creates opportunities, the modern communication or internet explosion also creates

challenges and issues. Indonesia telecommunication also has two big issues: the first issue is the

internet speed and the second is law (regulations). In Indonesia the average internet speed only

1.2 Mbps, compared to Singapore 5.1 Mbps, Malaysia 2.2 Mbps, Southern Korea 15.7 Mbps,

Japan 10.9 Mbps, and Hong Kong 9.3 Mbps. The slow internet speed in Indonesia caused of

many factors. One of the factors is infrastructure, in Indonesia most of internet connection (95%)

use the cellular and satellite infrastructure, rather use the fiber optic. As we know the internet

speed using satellite or cellular is slower compare to fiber optic. In Indonesia, there are several

issues should be considered to use fiber optic network. The biggest issue is complex and unique

geography due to Indonesia has of over 17,000 islands.