Museum honors sci-tech innovators

Erwida Maulia ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 05/02/2008 2:26 PM  |  National

The Indonesian Museum of Records (MURI) on Wednesday recognized five people and institutions in the field of science and technology.

The five honorees were the Rumah Akal Foundation, which has written a book and created software on "magical mathematics", Jacobus Busono, who is an innovator in the industrial sector, and Supeno Surya, who invented a dioxin-free system for the food and cosmetics industries and wrote a book on it.

Other honorees were Castle Animation, a local pioneer in the export of animated television series and movies to Europe and the United States, and Cybermedia College, Indonesia's first school for 3-D animation.

Wednesday's award presentation was attended by some 30 other science and technology innovators earlier recognized by MURI.

During the ceremony, MURI signed a memorandum of understanding with the State Ministry for Research and Technology.

The agreement is expected to encourage innovation in science and technology, which is hoped will create new industries and new jobs, as well as a "knowledge-based society" in Indonesia.

"This (awards presentation) is important so as to create living legends around us," State Minister for Research and Technology Kusmayanto Kadiman said.

"We don't have to wait for great maestros; why don't we first recognize smaller maestros? This is an effort to give a place for science and technology in the community," he said.

A press statement from the state minister's office said Indonesia lacked global competitiveness in science and technology. According to a 2007 report by the World Economic Forum, Indonesia ranked 57th out of 131 countries in science and technology.

The press statement said the lack of innovation was because the country "has yet to apply scientific and technological approaches in dealing with various problems", such as those in the economic sector.

MURI honoree Supeno Surya said the government had yet to provide enough support for scientists, with private institutions providing most of the funding for research.

Supeno, who is CEO of a local manufacturing firm, said he financed his own research on the dioxin-free system.

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