AUSTRALIA

Innovation

• CSIRO invited applications from start-ups and SMEs in the digital health and medical technology sectors for its Innovate to Grow program.

Digital transformation

• Australian Signals Directorate and Australian Cyber Security Centre issued ‘Engaging with Artificial Intelligence’.  

Climate change & energy

• The Grattan issued ‘The Safeguard’s role in making Australia a renewable superpower’.  
• The International Energy Agency issued ‘Electricity 2024’, noting that clean sources of generation are set to cover all of the world’s additional electricity demand over the next three years.

GEDSI

• The AIHW issued ‘Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031 Outcomes Framework: Second annual report’.
• The Parliamentary Library issued ‘Gender composition of Australian parliaments by party: a quick guide’.
• The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners welcomed new incentives for advanced skills in rural areas
• The Parliamentary Library issued a Bill Digest for the Modern Slavery Amendment (Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner) Bill 2023.

Politics

• ASPI issued ‘State and territory diplomacy can enhance Australia-Southeast Asia cooperation’.
• An ANU Indonesia Institute Roundtable will be held next week (29 Jan) on Indonesia’s upcoming elections
• Minister Madeleine King and the WA Minister foreshadowed a meeting with nickel and lithium producers.
• Minister Ayres visited Indonesia. The media release –  Full Text – noted that “I will also visit a dairy production project supported by the Australian Centre for Agricultural Research, and KONEKSI, a partnership of Australia and Indonesian universities to address water and energy security.”

INDONESIA

Research and Technology  

• The Aceh Communication, Informatics, and Cryptography Agency, along with the Syiah Kuala University (USK), signed a MoA for the implementation of education, research, development of science and technology, community service, and human resources development.  
• Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform (PANRB) Abdullah Azwar Anas held a meeting with Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan to accelerate the digital transformation of the government through government technology (GovTech). 

Research and Innovation 

• Researchers from Universitas Dipenogoro (Undip) are developing a tool that measures muscle strength for post stroke patients named MyoMES. MyoMES is being developed to further the development of bionic hands. The Indonesian Ministry of Health plans to strengthen pentahelix relations to advance research on health devices. (Kompas, Page. 5, 22 January 2024)  
• A Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmaceutical Technology at Universitas Padjajaran has developed a mouth ulcer plaster made from biopolymers.  
• Indra Saptiama from BRIN, through the the Nuclear Energy Research Organisation (ORTN) is developing the utilisation of palm oil waste for diagnosing blockages in the lung’s pulmonary arteries.  
• The Research Centre for Energy Conversion and Conservation at BRIN is developing green carbon black as a dye and raw material for car tires and other rubber-containing goods.   

Environment and Climate Change (ECC) 

• Researchers from BRIN, Food and Agriculture Organization, Selaras Hijau Indonesia Foundation, Jambi University, Charles Sturt University Australia, Vienna Museum Austria, and Universite Montpellier France, have rediscovered the clown featherback fish species, Chitala lopis (C. lopis), in Java after 172 years.   
• Researchers from BRIN have discovered the sixtieth species of water snake (Hypsiscopus indonesiensis) in Lake Towuti, South Sulawesi. 
• Universitas Airlangga and the University of Western Sydney (UWS) Indonesia will establish collaboration in research and community development focusing on sustainable energy and green technology. 
• Program Kreativitas Mahasiswa Riset Eksakta (Student Creativity Program for Exact Science) team from Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember conducted research on the effects of pre-treatment on aluminium metal regarding the amount of electricity generated as a renewable energy source.   
• The Head of the Research Centre for Energy Conversion and Conservation at BRIN stated that energy transition must be accelerated to reach the targeted goal of reducing carbon emissions to net zero by 2060.  

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Research and Funding 

• Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartanto stressed that the government will not stop providing funds to the Endowment Fund for Education Agency (LPDP) and will expand its fund distribution for various training and tourism funds.    
• The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology opened the Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) 2024 program for vocational and undergraduate students, which aims to provide government scholarships for Indonesian students to pursue mobility programs at foreign universities. 

Research and Disabilities 

• Chairperson of the National Commission on Violence Against Women, Andy Yentriyani, appreciates the efforts of Chief of the National Police in issuing an inclusive policy allowing people with disabilities to have opportunities to be selected as police officers 

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Updates supported by Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA)