Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Regional Research and Innovation Agency (BRIDA) was officially unveiled through the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) head and Home Affairs Minister Muhammad Tito Karnavian.
During the MoU signing event at B.J. Habibie Building here on Wednesday, BRIN head Laksana Tri Handoko noted that BRIDA is one of the mandates of Law No.11 of 2019 on the Science and Technology National System.
It is also stipulated in President Regulation No. 78 of 2021 on BRIN.
BRIDA, as a partner, is expected to play an important role in research-based decision-making and in strengthening the research as well as innovation ecosystem in a number of regions in Indonesia.
"It is believed that research and innovation have become key for preventing Indonesia from becoming trapped in the middle-income trap," he explained.
The middle-income trap can be avoided by creating additional value in the utilization of natural resources produced in Indonesian regions. This large additional value can be generated through strong research and innovation capability.
Through BRIDA, regions can report various issues in their regions so that BRIN can seek research-based solutions for them.
The reverse is also possible, namely bringing solutions that already exist at the central level and in other regions to help resolve issues in regions.
BRIDA is a new unit under regional governments, and its formation and program will be coordinated with BRIN.
The existence of BRIDA is expected to serve as a lever for economic growth and for collaborators to resolve research-based issues.
Currently, there are several regions that already have or have started the process to form BRIDA, such as West Nusa Tenggara, Bali, and Central Java.
By the end of 2022, at least 50 BRIDAs are targeted to be formed across Indonesia.
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"BRIDA, as the regional governments' vertical organ, will become an important part and our main partner at BRIN," Handoko explained.
During the event, Minister Karnavian stressed the importance of creating policies based on research and data. Within this context, research institutions have become very important.
"For this reason, our vision and mindset for these research-based policies must exist in the minds of the entire regional heads as the very first users," he said.
"We expect that this BRIDA will not be an institution that conducts business as usual," he added.
He said he expects BRIDA to become a foundation for creating policies and for encouraging the prioritization of research, in accordance with each regions' needs.
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