Jakarta (ANTARA) – Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology Brian Yuliarto has expressed an ambitious vision for laboratories at universities and research institutions to not only produce research but also produce world-class industrial giants.
“Beyond products that certainly have a major impact, we also want to give rise to a list of companies born from laboratories at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and from campus laboratories,” Yuliarto said at the Indonesia Innovator Award 2026 event here on Monday.
Yuliarto reminded that Indonesian researchers must have the courage to cross the critical downstreaming phase that often causes innovative findings to fail to break into the commercial market.
“Becoming a company, a company becoming an industry, and indeed there, as researchers, we know the valley of death is there. There are so many innovative products, but we have not succeeded in bringing them to industry,” he said, explaining the challenges in the industry.
According to him, the key for Indonesia to leap into becoming a developed nation is not simply creating ordinary mass-produced goods, but building a technology industry founded on absolute mastery of advanced science.
“It must have an impact on society, that is our concern, which is what makes it challenging for a country to leap forward,” he said, encouraging the scientists present.
He added that what is now emerging is the deep tech industry, an industry based on sophisticated, advanced technology, which Indonesia needs in order to leap forward.
As a reference for success, Yuliarto cited Taiwan’s remarkable journey in gradually producing world-class semiconductor giants from its government-owned research and development institutions.
Echoing Yuliarto, BRIN Head Arif Satria recalled a key message from the president, who stressed that a country’s capacity to master technology will greatly determine its position and standing in the eyes of the international community.
To help raise that standing, BRIN has set three strategies to accelerate national economic growth ahead of Golden Indonesia 2045, namely boosting MSME productivity through innovation, strengthening national industry and Danantara’s competitiveness through research, and facilitating co-development of advanced global technology.
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Translator: Sean, Kenzu
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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