Research stay in Jakarta: IDOS researcher Benjamin Stewart looks at Open Science in relation to science policy

From January to March 2023, the Promoting Research on Digitalisation in Emerging Powers and Europe Towards Sustainable Development (PRODIGEES) project facilitated a research exchange of IDOS research staff member Benjamin Stewart in Jakarta, Indonesia.

MGG Network partner, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta, hosted Mr Stewart during his investigation of Open Science and science policy implementation in Indonesia and the Asia Pacific Region. Mr Stewart conducted qualitative research, interviewing directors at the Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), as well as professors, directors, and staff of Indonesian universities, research institutes and civil society organisations. The research comes at a pivotal moment, with Indonesia taking on the ASEAN presidency in 2023 and potentially asserting itself as a regional science and technology power player. There is potential for science and technology policy development that could inspire similar action within the G20.

The PRODIGEES exchange also connected Mr Stewart to MGG Network partner, the Indonesian National Institute of Public Administration (LAN). With LAN, Mr Stewart presented IDOS’ MGG Academy programming, linking the work of the Academy with trainings that LAN hosts for civil servants.  Further, with the Jakarta Polytechnic STIA LAN division, Mr Stewart presented on the topic of Global Citizenship Education, which presented IDOS and MGG visions of inter- and transnational network cooperation and global common good.

Both CSIS and LAN are progenitors of MGG Academy alumni, and longstanding partners of the MGG Network.

The research of Mr Stewart conducted under the PRODIGEES aegis contributes to both his PhD work, supervised by Director Prof. Dr Anna-Katharina Hornidge with the University of Bonn, and to the PRODIGEES work package on research related to “governance and society”.  PRODIGEES is co-funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska Curie Action – Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (MSCA-RISE), to be carried about between January 2020 and June 2025. Mr Stewart is the manager of this project.