The Role of IT in Cultural Development: Indonesia’s Case

1. The Role of IT in Cultural Development: Indonesia’s Case Bambang Soeprijanto, National Agency for Information and Communication, The Republic of Indonesia. A Country Paper presented at the 1st International Conference on the Roles of IT in Cultural Development. Hosted by The Research Institute on Culture, Art and Communication The Islamic Republic of Iran Tehran - January 9 – January 10, 2001

2. Our Situation • The use of information technology as a tool for benefiting human live, has two faces. The good are unity of the nation and the diversity of cultural promotion/ conservation, and the bad sides are pornographic sites, excessive violence programs, hacking and intelectual property piracy. • Society at large could affecting and also being affected by IT in Cultural Development in the broadest context. It enabling society to form virtual community, electronic trade and e-governance, as well as tele-education and tele-medicine. • The roles of IT then should not be generalized or neutral from value, but embeded by its social culture. Not to means the national outlook of an archipelagic view point, that was not similar to the continental ones • Unbalance positioningof a nation in terms of technological transfer, place developing nations in jeopardy and pushed them to be consumerism tending.

3. How Did This Happen? • Historically Indonesia started using IT since launching of Palapa, a domestic communication sattelite system, in 1976. The last type of its successor was Palapa C launched in 1992 which was run under the Open Sky policy. • After being implemented under Soeharto’s regim for almost three decades, the dominance of security approach was undermined within Gus Dur’s Administration in respect to human right. • Due to economic with mutidimensional effects’ of crisis affecting all of social walk of life, the National Reform Agenda seems walk no where; but stay in sites.

4. Alternatives Considered • One of crisis dimension in the state and government political field, affecting society was the diminishing of Government credibility in the public eye. • ICT strategy launched by The Vice President Office was a Muti-tract Communication Strategy to balance information flows among Executive, Legislative and Yudicative branches as well as to the grass roots for the purpose of empowering society. • Meanwhile, the National IT Framework that now under reconsiderations, need a strong visionary leadership and keen business support to implement gradually, without losing its comprehensiveness.

5. Recommendation or Decision • In attaining cultural development goals harmoniously, government should consider multi-facet stage of social growth of each ethnics ranged from Aceh in North Sumatra to the East of West Papua. • IT roles in cultural context ought to balance the advancement of socio-economic and political development and to avoid the digital divide phenomena to reach the poor people in rural areas. • By extending the universal basic services of ICT for the whole society and maintaining the wealthy accessed social class in exchange of special tariff and extra services ( VoIP, WAP, VoD, etc), then diversity of services and segmenting the society is not to be in the hand of monopolized corporation. • The de-regulation and opening the market for global competition also means to invite foreign investors as to relief economics crisis and make available jobs opportunity for people.

6. Our Vision for the Future • Attaining national goals in unity of the Republic of Indonesia, has to consider the efficient use of IT for accelerating the development without losing its cultural identity and national pride. • IT promises for convergency of multi media access and telecommunication services need a strong private business support and participation as well as a sound regulatory business climate that is guaranteed by government transparency. • Human resources are crucial for effecting the use of IT in cultural development, therefore need a continuation and amplification of the High School 2000 Programs, Vocational education and lifelong learning climate.

7. Summary • International collaboration of IT resources to build a network of cultural exchange among nations hopefully could abridging the east and west gap in anticipating the digital divide. • Meanwhile, to avoid generation gaps within and among generations of nations, multimedia programs for cultural conservation could be implemented to raise the social awareness on their cultural identity, and national resilience. • With the strategic use of IT in cultural development and maintaining the ingenuity of local social culture, both target for diversity of local content as well as the cross media ownership could be achieved in complement. • In the spirit of Globalization of Information without eliminating the ingenuity of local community, then extending the IT access facilities for rural people, as well as introducing the micropower radio gateway packet for IT community base initiative are the priority to be implemented.