Indonesian hopes for international cooperation in space
During Europe's Earth and Space Week, significant attention has been paid to what Europe can do to mitigate and help manage natural disasters, the burden of which falls disproportionately on developing countries. But what do the developing countries themselves think of what is on offer? CORDIS News put this question to Dr Kusmayanto Kadiman, Minister for Research and Technology in Indonesia, who was attending the conference 'Winning through cooperation: international conference on cooperation in space' in Brussels, Belgium, on 17 February. Indonesia does not have its own space capabilities, and stands to gain in two respects from international collaboration in space, and in particular from Earth observation, said Dr Kadiman. First, the images captured from space have proved themselves invaluable over the last couple of months in providing humanitarian relief and assisting reconstruction. Second, Dr Kadiman hopes that space technology can help Indonesia to reduce the likelihood of needing such assistance in the future by giving advance warning of impending disaster. 'The eyes from the satellite can give us much better data, for example on El Niño,' he told CORDIS News. 'We need to predict when it will happen, which areas it will affect, and for how long. This will allow us to save cattle and crops.' Coopering in the field of space is not something that Indonesia had considered before the devastating tsunami struck Asia and Africa on 26 December, and it is not something that Dr Kadiman would have previously considered possible, he told CORDIS News. 'I would never have thought it possible that we would have so many countries working together. And now we have a platform and are working together for humanitarian reasons,' he said. Indonesia is currently using maps created using satellite data to establish the new boundaries of the areas hardest hit by the tsunami, and to establish the best routes for road transportation and for rebuilding electricity infrastructure. Dr Kadiman takes a pragmatic approach to Indonesia developing its own space capabilities. 'Everybody wants it, but why does everybody need it when we can share - one instrument is not only for one country,' he said. In line with this way of thinking, Indonesia recently proposed creating a 'network of networks' in order to facilitate the sharing of data. Indonesia will not simply be sitting back and reaping all the benefits of collaboration, however. Dr Kadiman intends for his country to play an active part in any collaboration, and says that Indonesia has lots of scientists who can contribute to international efforts. A recently forged partnership with Germany is giving Indonesia its first opportunity to work with European partners on disaster mitigation. Germany will provide the apparatus, while Indonesia will provide the human resources, says the minister.