THE ROLE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT; 

AN  INDONESIA’S CASE 

Abstract:

To maintain cultural identity, as part of Indonesian nation and character building, is a duty placed upon each citizen that was prescribed in the 1945 Constitution. As a national state comprises of more than half thousand ethnic groups occupied more than 17 thousand islands, Indonesia faces a burden in building national identity, based on shared value of cultural ethnicity which is balanced by equality and symbiotic relationship. During the last three decades implementing strategy of communication technology (namely: the open sky policy and unifying the nation by mimicking the majority value) to unify the nation, it had had fallen in to a trap and plunged the nation into a multidimensional crises. In addition, to gain the false momentum of quasi-cultural stability with the enforcement of security approaches, the silent majorities have no opportunity to speak their voices under the restrictive regulation and procedural law.

After the up coming of the Reform Era, people have their right to speak for freedom of expression. Further, with the less restrictive law or regulation and almost free from government intervention, people gain their power back to the community. Under the society empowerment strategy implemented by Abdurrahman Wahid’s administration, many grass root organization try to play their role in enhancing social life, through multifaceted development, namely cultural development and economic as a whole, where IT café take in their parts. In fostering the cultural development within the frame of Indonesian nation and character building, it is one-way ticket to utilize information technology for the nation not to be marginalized in global era. The role of information technology in cultural development is two faces. Primarily to extend the chances for educating the new generations in terms of their cultural value and social heritage in a form that mostly contemporary designed and suited for their lifestyle. In addition, the information technology can also be used for enhancing inter ethnicity and international cultural exchange through long distance education. Further more, by implementing information technology, it could abridging the gaps between the have and the have not, to avoid digital divide phenomena which could occurred either within or among the nations.

In terms of the later, by accessing international information resources from varies of cultural web site and portal, either domestic or foreign, the exchange of cultural value and the enhancement of universal value of humanitarianism could prosper the world with humanly face.
A. INTRODUCTION

As a holistic part of the Indonesian nation and character building prescribed in the 1945 Constitution, it is a duty placed upon each citizen to maintain cultural identity. A national state, Indonesia comprises of more than half of a thousand ethnic groups occupied on more than 13 thousand islands. At moment, Indonesia faces burden in building a national identity, based on shared value of cultural ethnicity that is balanced by equality and symbiotic relationship. Amongst many reasons were economics crisis that affected all aspects of citizen life. 

To escape from that crisis, Abdurrahman Wahid’s Administration try to empower society and to use information technology to speed up the reform process as well as to streamline the bureaucracy. Within the frame work of National Reform Agenda, public information (and communications) policy were switched from “a mouth piece of government” to “the multi-track communication strategy” in order to balance the flow of information among executive, legislative, judicative and grass root society. In enforcing Gus Dur administration’s policies, even the government still faces the loss of its credibility upon the eye of the public.   Therefore, for the success of empowering society, the downsizing of the executive communication to the public is aimed to balance the echoes among judicative, legislative and society. 

Alas, the main dissemination of information’s function on executive branch is to be dare for action rather than speech deliveries to the public only. In line with this multi-track communication strategy, the use of information technology means to emphasize and improve the accuracy of information, and speed up the collecting process of the need and aspiration expressed within society which mean for the government have to listen carefully. In tracking back the differences between past and this moment strategy, lets us talk on the past experience.

B. PAST EXPERIENCE ON THE ROLES OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

For the last three decades implementing information (and communication’s) technology strategy (namely: the open sky policy and mimicking the majority value) to unify the nation, during the periods of National Development, government had had achieved into a state of economic and socially stables condition. It was a gloomy situation, as if it was appeared in the surface. But when the troubled water sub-summed, at the end of 1998 the undercurrent of students’ movement raised up to toppled down the Soeharto’s administration. 

Started back on earlier era, at the same time with the launching of Palapa satellite in 1978, “the state strategy of propaganda” to enact the implementation of the Five Basic state principles were by institutionalizing a national ideological body of  BP-7. Rather than giving another alternative of interpreting the  Five Basic state principles as it were occurred during Soekarno’s era, the Soeharto’s regime preferred a monolithic style that was in line with the President himself, personal interpretive values regarding the state philosophy. Therefore, the operations of propaganda implemented during this three decades regime engineered a quasi democracy,  called Demokrasi Pancasila, where the public opinion was being engineered as if it were came from the people. Instead, it was orchestrated opinion to please the president and crafted by the bureaucracy. 

No wonder that under this circumstance, press freedom is almost non-existence, but a manipulated and directed to function as the mouthpiece of the government. So as the nullifying of freedom of organization due to the harsh curbing for any opposition from workers union and a quasi directive unity for each federative grass root of civilian activities. That worked well to keep all political allies silenced.

On the other hand,  for cultural development, the strategy was directed toward a uniformity rather than diversity of local value and high tolerance. It claimed to maintain a nationalistic state sphere. Therefore, all news and information disseminated through out the nation were from a centralized viewpoint, and aired centrally from the state radio and television broadcasting station in the capital city.  News pool and central news hours at every 21.00 p.m. were standard practiced for all stations. So did the cultural programs that had been treated similarly. TV or radio pool programs were common occurrence for not giving the other choices of view during the similar airtime. Wherever you switched  the channels, then the picture was the same. There were usually happened for Presidential ceremonies or itineraries that came out to be  stapled for re-broadcast. Furthermore, state radio and television stations competed un-equally with their private allies in terms of advertising revenue from the same market share. 

Although the state broadcasting stations have the share of direct advertising, they also had the opportunity to receive the portion of private broadcasting contribution, as well as the grant from state budget as the main staple in running the business. 

In addition, gaining a false momentum of  quasi-cultural stability by the enforcement of  security approaches, the silent majorities have no opportunity to speak their voices under the restrictive regulation and procedural law, especially the press law of 21 - 1984. Contending the roles of information (and communication) technology in the cultural development, the strategy implemented in that moment was an artificial representation of the ethnic cultural festivities. Instead of out-reaching the local culture for mass media expose, a cultural presentation in the form of either folk dance, religious trance (Bali), or story telling format was being set and performed in the capital city. The scenes and players even further were played with non-natives.  The message beyond this cultural presentation were two fold; first  to sterilizing local bias in the standardized uniformity value for an authoritarian tending format, and second to give a proof for lay people that the trend setter was at the capital city which had to be replicated or mimicked for each regions. That was later known as the yellowier social life patron as those of the color of government backed political party (Golkar- the functional bureaucratic). Standard story telling for puppet shows also could be splintered for ideological purposes and modified with a new genre of standardized ideological story. 

Information technologies development, especially coordinated through the National Team for Coordinating Indonesia’s Telematics, were ubiquitous among government agencies. With the flagship of  tele-education, tele-medicine, tele-information and others IT applications, the embryo of e-government was being set up to introduce the use of IT both, in the clerical office duties and for ease public services. The private sectors although being encouraged, but with no transparencies in procurement processes, made the national cake of business share were not evenly distributed. Public projects regarding the IT were distributed among specifics business players that have privilege and special access to the administration. Such examples of implementing the IT for official purposes were automation by computerizing of ID card for car drivers and the citizen ID, but these resulted in the rise of tariff paid for by citizen to follow the procedures. 

The high sophisticated concept for implementing the Information Technology at the broad-extended context, in the cultural development, was materialized in The Nusantara 21 IT Framework. This Teamwork consisted of more than fourteen departmental ministries involved in the huge task to transform social life from agrarian or industrious society into information society, where Ministry of Information was one among its members.  Unfortunately, when the Ministry of Information office being liquidated and replaced by National Board of Information and Communication, the later were not included as the ad hoc member. 

In sum, although the economics life was enhancing, but the distribution of wealth among people were limited to the elite in the cities, not even reaching the rural people, since the discrepancies of life expectancy, health status, education and recreation, culture among Java – Bali Island and the rest of the archipelagoes were too big. That raised an injustice feeling among the surrounding inhabitants. State crony capitalism constituted by conglomerates have premium access and privilege due to their close stay with bureaucracy, and almost monopolizing the business at large. Small and medium enterprises as the biggest part of economics players only have a limited share of less than 15 % of gross national products. The biggest portion of economics assets were 85 % keep at the hand of les than 2,5 % of new capitalist clique who closest to bureaucracy. State enterprises usually shared the similar privileges, but run under pressure being force to be a petite cashier for political driven government shadowed needs. Therefore, the red type bureaucracy creates high cost economy where bribery was so rampant. 

At the end of the development periods, although by using standard of economics measurement progress it seemed always rise up, but speaking in terms of the economics structure of the nation, there were plummeted. It had had fallen in to a trap and plunged the nation into a multidimensional crises. At the height of its social revolution waves, it then forced the government transition of power pushed by student movement. Especially Internet dissemination of news’ student’s movement whom resisted from Suharto’s regime is ubiquitous among netters. Through the information technology use, the spread of rumors during the toppling down era went around among amongst student leaders and political elites as it occurred in reality.  Private radio stations went on instant coverage as the movement clashed with the police and they broke up the stories, inserting between the non-news programs to reach audiences as early as possible.

Indicated early by the resignation of thirteen cabinet ministers among Soeharto’s cabinet members, then the government gradually loses its credibility. Under the IMF pressure, Soeharto handed over the administration to the vice president, BJ Habibie. 
During BJ Habibie’s transitional government, although the economics recovery went in a proper direction, but the legitimacy of the appointee were in questions. That was due to the status of his presidential position as a prolongation of Soeharto, then people felt that he was a successor rather than a president elect. The second fallacies of Habibie’s ambition to stay in power during general electoral process were due to his first promise when he stayed in office, that he intend not to further the tenure, but only to stay for as long as the transitional period.

C. MODERN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND ITS ROLES IN CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE REFORM ERA 

After the up coming of the Reform Era, people have their right to speak for freedom of expression. That was occurred during the  Habibie’s  Transitional Government, under  the National Unity’s Presidential cabinet, where the Information Ministry headed by Junus Yosfiah a unification of the press law,  broadcasting law and film law was undergone.  But after a tough discussion with the legislative, the only released was press law and left the broadcasting law as well as film law untouched. Further, with the less restrictive law or regulation and almost free from government intervention, under the Press Freedom Act of 36 – 1998, people gained their  power back to the community. During this short period of most democratic minister, Junus challenged the legislative members to consider in reviewing the urgency of whether for the right moment in the next time, if it were appropriate to liquidate Ministry of Information, for allowing the people speaks for them.    Unfortunately, BJ Habibie’s transitional government were not last long. Instead of the power stay tuned for the incumbent, it had to be turned over to the new challenger, which won unanimously by the Indonesia’s Democratic Struggle Party.  But, for the sake of the political elite’s splintered strategy that denying  a woman’s leadership  of the nation,  then the middle way Islamic coalition party came up with another candidate. This coalition named as the Middle Axis (Poros Tengah) succeeded in posing Gus Dur goal to be the Indonesia 4th President elect. Under the society empowerment strategy  in the Abdurrahman Wahid’s administration, many grass root organization try to play their role in enhancing social life, through multifaceted development. Namely, cultural development, social life, economic aspect, security and order as a whole, where IT café take their parts in.

In fostering the cultural development  within the framework of Indonesian nation and character building, it is one-way ticket to utilize information technology. For the nation not being marginalized in global era, the role of information technology in cultural development has two faces. In one hand, to extend chances for educating populace and the new generation on their cultural value and social heritage, in a format that mostly contemporary designed and suitable for their lifestyle. Various cultural programs aired in broadcasting now are more divers, and resemblance of various ethnicities. Indonesia’s Cultural web sites such as Indonesian Homepage (http://www.indonesia.elga.net.id ), Indonesia kini (http://www.indonesiakini.com ), 
Myquran.com (http://www.myquran.com),  indo.com (http://www.indo.com ), http://www.indo.net.id/eos, http://ww.purawisata.url4life.com , http://www.eastjava.com/mtf , http://www.sharwoods.com/default_flash.htm , http://www.jakarta-kota.com . Even political tending web sites, such as http://www.members.nbci.com/indomarxist for leftist movement that up to this moment is  ruled as a banned activities within the Indonesia legal territories. 

By the use of information technology, not only the production houses have the opportunity to contribute for non-news materials for electronics media exposure; but also many correspondents from some of regional capital have the same chances to fill the remote news and societal agenda. Even with the digital technology, for comedy program such as the Hidden Video USA, a private TV station gained popularity among kid and youngsters to old generations, for the hilarious populace comedy (Spontan – pasar humor). Unfortunately, the glamor (Indonesia also has its acronym of Gelak tawa Humor) and Spontan now lose its ingenuity due to the return of the old paradigm. When the reform era begins its political whitewashing, the artistic world of contemporary stage performance also been affected. Some young and almost avant-garde artists try to bend the basic rules (pakem) from typical legendary stories and made them a humorous comedy based on real-life contemporary social problems (such a parody in an interactive format). But with the rising stars of act players, the salary also went up and it possibly made the management in furious and jealousy position. With a reason sacking the Leysus – Topan and Miesye (trio top-actors/actress as the primadona at stage), the management then re-makes the format and back to the old paradigm. But by introducing a journalist-artist politically lean ex con as the supporting actors in the last Portuguese legendary stories, the performance fail to get their merits from public applause. It was an artificially engineered stage performance to lure public attention but lacking  a sense of humor.

In addition, the information technology can also be used for enhancing inter ethnicity and international cultural exchange through long distance education, Internet access, tele conferencing and others. With an auspice of the National Education Department, the High School 2000 Program tried to connect 2,000 Senior High School at the end of 2000 A.D. through-out archipelago to establish a network of pupil activities, school curricula exchange program and life long education for teacher’s continuing program in order to foster and socialize IT use at the educational community. After trying to resurrect the spirit of Youth National Pledge day at the 28 October 2000 by commencing the High School 2000 program, the next March 2001 activities will be a road show traveling to a half of the provinces in Indonesia, to visit, discuss and exhibit IT application programs at the 20 capital provinces from North Sumatra to the East Nusatenggara.

In the Internet world, the web sites promote Indonesia culture and its social life was sprouting, namely: http://www.loloka.org , http://www.fortuneddb.com , http://www.indo.com/indonesia/west_nusa-tenggara/lombok.html , 
http://www.sil.org/ethnologue/countries/indm.html . Some of them offering language training for expatriates, namely Executive Orientation Services, and Semarang 2000. Even the Indonesian Students abroad, placed a web site to promote intercultural exchange with their community, by offering information on their sites ( Permias South Florida, Permias Denver, Permias New York City, Minnesota Permias, PPIA and Indoz-net from New Zealand). In the private sectors, the Habibie Center as a non-government organization also committed to establishing a society based on morality and integrity grounded on cultural and religious values, and promoting its mission though his web site. Lately, the soft launching of http://www.info-ri.com as an information technology extension of the National Institute of Information, made the national information portal a reality among many privately owned news and business portal.

By applying information technology not only in the educational field, but also for health, social welfare and public services purposes, it could abridging the gaps between the have and the have not. Further more, in order to avoid digital divide phenomena which could occurred either within or among the nations, then the implementation of IT use needs to be elaborated and supported by all sectors and people from all walk of life. Nonetheless, the use of IT was not only affecting society to the right direction, or positively but also at the other way round. Whatever the rules and guidance’s being implemented, the negative effect of its use cannot to be annoyed, but it could be undermined. Within the temporary report of the Internet usage among Indonesian, the Pacific research group newly revealed that majority of Indonesian’s netter felt that more web sites offering the pornographic content especially hosted from foreign countries were humiliating orient cultural values, and demanded for government to curb or banned. Unfortunately, under the Internet etiquette universal value there is no possibility to enforce government regulation into the Internet world. Otherwise, Internet international community will marginalize them. Therefore, the people or community with a parental guidance left the responsibility to watch the Internet content, especially to protect their kid from accessing x-rated web sites, despite the availability of Internet’s software patrol.

In the commercial sectors, the spread and ease availability of hijacked CD and DVD room also sprouted in almost each of electronics market. As an instant business chance for street side vendors, this kind of hijacked materials were ubiquitous and within the reach of the lay pocket. Although police raid were done routinely, the black market of hijacked CD and VCD almost ruined the originals one. Complaint from foreign holders of copy righted materials were sounded loudly, but the promise to abolished that of business from street market is a far from reality. Unfortunately, the producer were never been confiscated, since they hidden somewhere and not been a target of police raid. They were still continue producing the hijacked CD/ VCD with a full automatic reproduction process, and even it had been conducted out of Indonesia’s national territory. The issue challenged for law enforcer’s agency from now and then is how far do the hijacked and pirated business of IT related products could be diminished or abolished for flourishing the original producers and artists gain their property and intellectual right of royalties.

D. PROSPECT FOR IMPROVING THE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR ADVANCING CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT: INDONESIA’S SETTING

Along with the new spirit of national reform agenda and promised Gus Dur’s administrative program in democratizing society and downsizing bureaucracy, then the implementation of IT use for advancing cultural development is a clear path to walk in to the future. The National Development Program 2000 – 2004 has already been enacted into a law and the Indonesia Industrial Chamber of Commerce gave a close hand to support in the field for action.

The momentum utilized by all concerned will be to share the same vision and responsibility in avoiding potentially digital divide among society in rural areas and remote island from capital city. With the support of interconnected action program from various government institution, private organization, businesses or non government one, the cross sect oral cooperative could be materialize to escape from micro-partial and ego-functional approaches.

Some lessons valued for consideration was that the coordination effort among agencies during three decades period of National Development that became  satirical stories of digging out the road. That was happened to a newly finished asphalt covered road being uncovered and uncovered again, for caving the cable of telecommunication services, electrics cable lines or water piping replacement that were done consecutively, unprogramable  and then without proper replacement of finished asphalt cover. That was a parody of coordination, integration, synchronization and simplification  (KISS) that were ease to be spoken, but never been done properly at least for the three decades that left road business never end and always under construction. Further more, some social issue of disparity, low income, lack of health care facilities in rural areas as well as political calamite and national dis-integrity threat of Aceh, Molucas and West Papua are our challenges to be face to  path the future. The guidance for people to act is clear that democratization process, along with a wake of the recognition of human right, the enforcement of legal justice and supremacy of law are one-way ticket. Whether the actors appointed in the position to head the agency were leaned to the old bureaucracy, but the personal integrity of individual as well as the clean track record during their tenure is a guarantee to the public.

That was the year end public discourse for appointing the head of supreme justice court with left to two only candidacies both from previous administration.
Since there is no one can escape from past story of Old, New Regime or Transitional Administrative bureaucracy involvement, then the least is the better. Although the choices is bitter, but it is sweetest for cure and make betterment for future socio-cultural development, as long as the willfulness of the person responsible at atop is concerned with the populace well-being. 

To ease and make transparent the process and procedures for public participation in the policy level, then a promise is seemed reasonable to implement IT use. For accelerating the speed of national reform agenda and lessening the hindrance of social, economics and politically burdened nation that plunged them into multi dimensional crises, national reconciliation is a choice of winning solution. Along with these goal-attainment, the issue of transparency being rolled-out to public with a public dialog on government transparency. 

Non Government organization initiative to raise a public need for drafting the Freedom of Information access act is now undergone to reach public attention at large. At this point, the National Institute for Information – a.k. National Board for Information and Communication (NII – which was formerly the Ministry of Information liquidated under the Gus Dur administration) acted as a facilitator to mediate the issue and place in the proper priority for legislative to set the tune to make into legal draft.

Technically speaking, the purpose of IT use in any field of services done by agencies, business corporation or grass root society would be to increase efficiency, gain target goal effectively and attain result at optimum level. Of course, by using the information technology, it is a hope to utilize properties and work out the job with less spend of money, fewer humanly effort by sinergizing human machine interface programs. Digital technology, multimedia gadget, convergence technology and broadband as well as voice over Internet and wireless access protocol are a promise to ease the burden now face by nation to escape from multidimensional crisis.

Therefore, business communities have to have a shake hand with the bureaucracy rather than accusing each other for creating a bribing culture as it practiced in almost three past decades. By creating transparency in government services, implementing an electronics government is a soluble program to materialize the good governance dream. Then, to learn more steady and enact industrious action, cross cultural study program as well as exchange visitors from various walk of life among nations to share a cultural development value is a promised reality. 

That kind of program with the implementing use of IT could extend the nations shared perspective on universal value of humankind, cultural heritage, social life and environmental splendors, even without leaving their country. Virtual relations with the use of virtual space and convergence of information technology promise a virtual reality as to foster humanly face of cultural development among nations.

E. CONCLUSION

By accessing an international information resource from varies of cultural web site and information portal, either domestic or foreign sites, the exchange of cultural value among nations or ethnics, the cultural lag between generations could be lessening. Meanwhile, the appraisal of enhancing universal value on humanitarianism could be disseminated with the use of information technology to prosper the world with humanly face. To accelerate the achievement of the welfare of society, either domestic or among nations, therefore encouraging of cooperative effort in the use of information technology to broaden cultural development between institutions, persons or organizations and even nations should be embraced, facilitated continuously and consistently.

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