AUSTRALIA

Industry and Innovation

• The Australian Economic Accelerator Grants Tranche 3 Funding Opportunity is now open until 9 Feb 2024, for grants up to AUD 500,000 for research pursuing commercialisation.  
• Minister Plibersek announced four Blue Carbon Accelerator Fund projects in the Indo-Pacific, and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to restore blue carbon ecosystems at COP28 in Dubai.
• Minister Husic announced $127m for Zero Net Emissions from Agriculture and Solving Plastic Waste Cooperative Research Centres.
• The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced $1.64m to EnergyLab to support startups in renewables.
• InnovationAus issued its 2023 Capability Papers, consolidating their public policy and business innovation content from across the year
• CSIRO released “Australia’s artificial intelligence ecosystem: Catalysing an AI industry” report, synthesising data on Australia’s current landscape of AI companies, research institutes and capabilities. A sample of insights from the report is copied below, showing top performing institutes in Australia based on publishing intensity. Notably, the University of Technology Sydney is performing most strongly. 

Climate Change

• The Climate Council issued ‘Australia and offshore wind’.
• ClimateWorks issued ‘Reversing biodiversity loss while sustaining food production and meeting the Paris Agreement’. 
• The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation announced a new partnership on the ‘Futures of Seafood’, with partners across the Federal government, Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre, and Seafood Industry Australia  

INDONESIA

Research and Technology

• The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology has launched the Vision of Digital Indonesia 2045 (VID 2045) to enable Indonesia to harness and control untapped potentials through directed and controlled digital technology utilisation.
• BRIN will establish regulations on the use of AI in research industries related to intellectual property rights.
• Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Anwar Makarim introduced the Integrated Resource Information System (SISTER) application to store data related to administrative services for lecturers can reduce the administrative burden of lecturers.

Research and Funding

• The Australian government is offering the Australia Awards Indonesia scholarship for Indonesian youth or professionals interested in participating in short courses in Australia.
• The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology re-launched the Matching Support Scheme for Vocational High Schools (SMK) and Matching Fund Programme for Vocational Higher Education Institutions (PTV) to improve the quality of learning, research, and community service in vocational high schools and vocational higher education institutions.

Research and Innovation

• BRIN collaborated with eFishery to develop and utilise research and innovation in aquaculture and exchange information on research and innovation outcomes.
• The Defence Ministry has a research and development programme for making GCI (Ground Controlled Interceptor) radar, rocket research and development, and developing smart bombs with BRIN.

Research and Licenses

• The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology is committed to improving policies and implementation techniques for the National Selection of New Student Admissions (SNPMB) to enhance transparency and accountability of the independent selection process at State Universities.

Research and Women

• Member of Commission VII of the Indonesian Parliament, Dyah Roro Esti, highlighted the important role of women in driving climate change mitigation and energy transition. According to her, several studies indicate that women tend to consider the long-term impact of a policy.
• The three big sins in higher education, namely sexual violence, bullying, and intolerance, were increased significantly. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology notes that sexual violence is the most frequent and prevalent issue in higher education.

Environment and Climate Change (ECC)

• The Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Penny Williams, conveyed that Australia and Indonesia have formed a partnership on climate change, particularly in the transition to achieve net-zero emissions.
• Greenhope, a technology company, is urging the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries to strengthen the bioplastic ecosystem to address the issue of plastic waste leakage into the sea.
• According to the collaborative research result by the Bali Partnership, there are 33,000 tons of plastic waste end up in the sea each year, polluting and affecting marine ecosystems, including the living creatures in the vicinity. There is also the problem of the endangered sea turtle population.
• Indonesia was said to strategically embrace carbon pricing to meet ambitious greenhouse gas emissions in the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) document and prepare the Second NDC with a more ambitious target.

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Updates supported by Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA)