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Transforming Indonesia and Australia with science and innovation

We’re assisting with media for the Australia-Indonesia Science Symposium, held in Canberra from Monday 28 November – Thursday 1 December.

Transforming Indonesia and Australia with science and innovation

Australian and Indonesian Ministers open international science symposium

 

Monday 28 November at the Shine Dome, Canberra
Opening ceremony 8.30 am, press call with Ministers 9:20 am with

  • Senator the Hon. Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Australia’s Minister for International Development and the Pacific
  • Dr Bambang PS Brodjonegoro, Indonesia’s Minister of National Development Planning
  • Professor Andrew Holmes, President of the Australian Academy of Science
  • Professor Sangkot Marzuki, President of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences

Indonesia is on track to become the fourth largest economy in the world by 2050. It’s undergoing massive economic and social change. Poverty is falling, health is improving, the nation is urbanising. The nation is hungry for energy, health, water and food security. Its people are early adopters of new technologies from social media to big data.

Australian and Indonesian scientists are working together to find solutions for some of the most pressing challenges facing both nations in health, marine science and agriculture. The Symposium will also offer scientists an opportunity to look at the innovations that can arise from the use of big data and other disruptive technologies.

The first Australia-Indonesia Science Symposium has brought together over 100 leading scientists and emerging researchers from the two nations to discuss how science and innovation can meet shared challenges.

Highlights of the four-day symposium include

  • A new drought-tolerant sugar cane for Indonesian farmers (Professor Bambang Sugiharto, Universitas Jember)
  • Golden bananas and other crops to reduce vitamin deficiencies (Professor James Dale, Queensland University of Technology)
  • What do the people want? Harvesting social media to inform policy (Diastika Rahwidiati, Pulse Lab Jakarta)
  • Managing Indonesia’s coral reefs (Professor Jamaluddin Jompa, Universitas Hasanuddin)
  • The future of mangroves—and why they’re essential for fisheries and coastal health (Professor Catherine Lovelock, University of Queensland)
  • Breeding mosquitos to fight dengue (Professor Adi Utarini, Universitas Gadjah Mada)
  • Why is it hard to acquire immunity to malaria, and what does that mean for vaccine development? (Dr Diana Hansen, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)

Full program and more speakers at www.ksi-indonesia.org/aiss/agenda

The Australian-Indonesia Science Symposium is organised by the Australian Academy of Science, the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI), the Australian Early- and Mid-Career Researcher Forum, and the Indonesian Young Academy of Sciences (ALMI) with the support of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Knowledge Sector Initiative.

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact: