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ast week, I attended the first Indonesian-American Kavli Frontier of Science Symposium in Bogor. About 40 of the best young Indonesian scientists and 30 of the best young American scientists were gathered to discuss the cutting-edge issues in their research fields.

This symposium, which was conducted jointly by the US National Academy of Science and Indonesia’s Academy of Science, highlighted Obama’s science diplomacy with the Muslim world.

Science diplomacy means using science and scientific cooperation to pursue diplomatic goals. In this case, since Obama’s historic speech in Cairo in 2009, the US has been using science to get closer to the Muslim countries.

Several programs have been used to execute this idea, such as the Tech Women Program (TWP) for female technologists from the Middle East and North Africa, the Partnership for Enhanced Engagement in Research for developing countries (PEER) and the Indonesian-American Kavli Frontier of Science Symposium.

During the opening session of the Kavli symposium, US science envoy to Indonesia Bruce Alberts and a representative from the US ambassador, Ted Osius, repeatedly implied that scientific cooperation between the US and Indonesia would focus on science that was critical for development such as alternative energy, rice genomics, infectious diseases and climate change.

In essence, the symposium is a great step that will benefit both the US and Indonesia. The US will get better relations with Indonesia and Indonesia will get more opportunities to foster its scientific skills and networks. But when we talk about science for development, the case is not that simple.

It is largely believed that Indonesia has many great scientists who have the knowledge and networks that give it the potential to improve Indonesia.

All of them are scattered across local universities, national research centers or even in academic institutions overseas.

Scientific cooperation with the US of course could give them more networks and support for their career, but the problem is how to transform these local scientist’s achievements into applicable technologies for developing Indonesia.

An article in Nature, written by Prof. Romain Murenzi, executive director of The Academy of Science in the Developing World, sparked debate about whether the increasing opportunity in the scientific world for developing countries would lead to economic improvement.

The counter argument said that developing countries did not need more PhDs if the country itself did not have jobs for them.

In this case, if we want to improve development, we should not only focus on research enhancement within the scientific community but also focus on two other important sides: industry and government. Both are needed to help scientists make their ideas applicable in the marketplace so they can create jobs and enhance the country’s economic capacity.

As a matter of fact, we should agree with Athar Osama, a Muslim science columnist who said the US’s science diplomacy should also help the developing world create employment through applying entrepreneurial skills and commercializing scientific research. Muslim countries could benefit immensely from this kind of cooperation.

The writer is a science journalist.