Jokowi Summons Young Inventors To Create Indonesia's Industrial Revolution 4.0

President Joko Widodo (Photo: Twitter @jokowi)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) called on domestic innovators to develop environmentally friendly green technology, as a form of industrial revolution 4.0. This is because, according to him, natural resource management in Indonesia will not be optimal without technological innovation.

"We must be grateful for God's gift in the form of abundant natural resources, for that we are obliged to protect and use them wisely for the welfare of the community. But without the wise mastery and use of technology, this gift will not provide maximum benefits for the people", Jokowi said at the time he opened the National Coordination Meeting for Strengthening the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) Technology Innovation Ecosystem in 2021, Monday, March 8.

Therefore, Jokowi asked BPPT to take extraordinary steps in hunting for innovation and technology. One of them is by attracting young innovators and researchers to increase Indonesia's technological sovereignty.

"I am sure that hundreds of thousands of researchers, thousands of research and technology institutions in government and private sector and millions of innovators in the wider community must have a lot of findings, maybe they are preliminary findings that still need to be developed, maybe mature findings that are ready to be applied, and can be immediately implemented in the industry ", he explained.

According to Jokowi, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many innovations had been made, one of which was in the health sector. Starting from a ventilator, respirator, GeNose, to RI-GHA COVID-19, which is an antibody rapid test tool.

"And there are many more that I cannot mention one by one, as well as findings in other fields, especially food and energy, which can also be used to increase the efficiency of MSMEs, facilitate synergies between small and large businesses and improve the quality of life of many people", he said.

For this reason, Jokowi asked BPPT to become an advanced technology acquisition agency from anywhere. This order is also addressed to the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, the Coordinating Minister for Trade, the Minister for Industry, the Minister for State-owned Enterprise (BUMN), and the Head of Capital Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).

"Technology is currently running very fast and the technology we need for national economic recovery may not have been produced domestically, so the technology acquisition strategy from abroad is the key to accelerating our economic recovery", he concluded.