Kerangka Teknologi Informasi Nasional
Lampiran 2

Globalization Theory
(Bagyo Y. Moeliodihardjo – Fakulltas Ilmu Komputer Universitas Indonesia) 
1.1          Global issues
National wealth creation 
It is undeniable that the economic consideration is the raison d’etre behind the globalization. When the concept was introduced in the 1970s, capitalistic economy was in the middle of crises. Profit was squeezed, labor was striving for higher wages, and competition from the newly emerging economics kept lowering the market prices down. Meanwhile, politics were increasingly threatened by the domestic economy. As the economic growth stagnant, government revenues failed to keep up with the increasing demand for social sector, i.e. education, health, welfare programs, infrastructure, housing, and bureaucracy. The consensus on the viability and value of the welfare state became in question, and the economic policy shifted toward the national wealth creation.
The shift directly affects the investment policy in information technology. Previously investment in infrastructure was seen as public investment, and in many cases was driven by supply side considerations. Despite its impressive result of hard working, the document describing the Nusantara-21 might be the best example of the approach used in the old days. Nowadays investment policy in information technology infrastructure should emphasize more to the demand side, where economic return should be the prime criteria. It has to clearly identify the need of the customers and clients, including the market projection, performance indicators, and return on investment.
Flexible production 
In the industrial revolution, industries are developed based on highly standardized of goods, tools, procedures, and workers. Although the industrial revolution had been there for more than a century, most industries in the 1970s are still vertically integrated, relying on large-scale organization and top down planning, requiring highly repetitious tasks and tight supervision. Since such environment does not accommodate easily altered production, most products have a long life cycle. Experts call such industrial environment as Fordism, after the mass production system implemented in Ford industries. In the globalization era, we witness the fading of Fordism. Industries are shifting to flexible production, where products are more easily modified to accommodate a wide variety of tastes and cultures in a globalized market. Instead of uniformity and tightly supervised top down planning, the new industries rely on teamwork and network approach, heavily emphasis on innovation and creativity.
The new approach in the industrial development requires an extensive networking among small and medium size industries and businesses. Since product life cycle becomes shorter, the interaction between the participating members should be intensive, fast, and extensive. Such interactions could only be provided by the availability of information technology and the capacity to effectively utilize it.
Focused, niche, and networking 
The fading concept of Fordism drives industries to sharpen their niche and their targeted market segment. By focusing to its core competence, each of the network members will be able to achieve excellence. Such approach will only be viable when an extensive network among small to medium enterprises with different niches, instead of large scale conglomeration, is well operated, where each member within the network try to fill the gap in the market according to their niches.
Such extensive network will not be feasible if it is limited by geographical proximity, due to the large variety of products and services demanded by the globalized market. In the current shrinking world, the information technology infrastructure and capacity is the only answer in coping with such enormous challenges. Members share the market, expertise, experience, and access to capital. Whilst the network, acting like a cooperative, will choose the enterprise which is best suited to fill the gap. Thus, a fierce competition, based on merit and excellence, will occur in becoming the member of the network. Under the contemporary globalized market, interaction between enterprises is characterized by networking, competition, and cooperation among them.
Role of university and research 
In the 14th century people living in the western hemisphere experienced the Renaissance period, which marked the beginning of their engagement to a new culture essential as the basis of science and technology development. The elements of that culture are freedom, individualism, rationalism, optimism, and creativity. Later on Merton introduced a paradigm for the academic community, consisted of universalism, communalism, disinterestedness, and organized skepticism [Merton, 1942]. Within the social contract with the public, universities and research institutions received monopolies of practice in return for disinterestedly serving the public goods, and claimed to be guided by ideals and altruism. In recent years, however, with the shift of the political economy from welfare state to the national wealth creation, utility to the national economic activity is increasingly received more attention. Merton’s paradigm is considered no longer adequate that specificity, practicality, and proprietary potential, are the newly added norms into universities and research institutions [Slaughter and Leslie, 1997].
In the new concept of national wealth creation, the role of university and research are becoming more important, particularly in developing the technoscience. In addition to the supply of highly skilled manpower needed to support the national economic development, it also rely on universities and research institutions to support product development, market development, and creatively invent new products, merging the scientific development with technology development. The reliance on these institutions is particularly strong in the development of new technology, such as information technology and biotechnology.
Trade agreements 
The world has embarked into globalization process and a world trade organization was established in 1997 as the follow up of Uruguay round and Marakesh agreements. Indonesia is a member country and bound to various WTO rules and regulations, which has opened the world into free market and competition with quality as the primary indicator. Aspects covered in WTO regulations include trading commodities, job market, human resource development, trade related intellectual property rights, as well as environment. For developing countries those agreements will be enacted in 2020 whilst for developed countries in 2010.
In order to anticipate the implication of free trading and globalization, many countries formed alliances and partnership such as APEC, AFTA, NAFTA, EU, and Mercasure (for Latin American countries). Significant efforts have been carried out to harmonize necessary rules, regulations and standards for commodities, procedures and guidelines. This has lead to certification and accreditation of products and services, as well as benchmarking and quality indicators. The regional trade organizations are actually networks, which operate based on cooperation and competition. In such a complex system, trading could only be carried out with an extensive support from the information technology.
The higher cross national mobility of capital significantly affects the mobility of workers. The domestic scarcity of highly skilled professionals in information technology will no longer become a critical constraint, since the supply might be abundant in the region. On the other hand, the job market for such professionals becomes globalized and will significantly affect the domestic market. In turn this trend will also increase the pressure to have a quality standard for education through various schemes of accreditation and certification process. Since the supply and demand of professionals is a paramountly important aspect in developing an information technology framework, such trend should be well taken into account.
Nation state 
Globalization significantly affects the concept of “nation state”. We witness a certain loss of nation state sovereignity, or at least erosion of national autonomy. Correspondingly we also see the weakening of the notion of the “citizen”, as a unified and unifying concept, characterized by pre defined roles, rights, obligations, and status [Burbules and Torres, 2000]. Whereas the role of non governmental and multinational organizations, such as the World Bank, IMF, United Nations, WTO, ITU, Human Rights Watch, as well as multinational corporations, is significantly strengthened.
In order to live in the global community, nations have to respect and accept a set of common values and norms. In political term, it means that they have to accept democracy, human rights, and civil society. In economic term, it means that they have to respect trade agreements, international capital mobility, and follow the concept of market economy. In technological term, it means that they have to accept the communication standard and respect the intellectual property rights.
The strategy in developing information technology should seriously take into account the increasingly borderless countries. The availability of information technology infrastructure should not limited to the domestic infrastructure, but should also take into account the availability of such infrastructure in the neighboring countries and regions.
Role of government 
In addition to the shift to the concept of the wealth of nation, the end of cold war has also significantly reinforced the fading of government role. Billion of dollars allocated to support the arms race now lost its justification. Expensive research to develop strategic weapon technology is no longer attracts government funding. The government intervention in the name of national security is now obsolete and unpopular. Mochtar Mas’oed [2000] proposes the following role for the government.
The government in various countries promises a “governance”; that is, a process of governing in which government may not play a leading, or even any, role. In this organizational format, policy is not made by a leader or a group, but emerges from consultation process among various parties concerned. Consequently, government should collaborate with non-governmental actors, and the government is no longer function as a direct provider of growth, but as a partner, catalyst and facilitator. By refraining from muddling the market and restoring the citizen’s rights to govern their own societal affairs, the government will be able to facilitate the development of vigorous civil society free from government control.
The government role is actually not fading, instead it is implementing different philosophy, concept, and values. Previously the government intervened to protect the national interests through various kinds of subsidy, import duty, negative investment list, and priority list. In the new era of post-Keynesian political economy, the government intervention is implemented through competitive funding mechanism, contractual scheme with social institutions, demand driven initiatives, tax reductions, and other means to simplify bureaucratic procedure.
Income disparity  
The shift in political economy has also produced a paradox. Both the United States and the United Kingdom have enjoyed an increase in its productivity in the last 2 decades. All major economic indicators, e.g. unemployment, production, confirmed that the economic growth is promising. According to the OECD report, however, these do not translate into increases in wages and standard of living [OECD, 1990].
The advancement of information technology and its related fields has significantly affected how the jobs are created and organized. The new post industrialized economy needs more knowledge workers, from the technical level up to the top managerial positions. Available jobs for less educated workers have been constantly shrinking, and mostly concentrated in service industries, i.e. waiters and waitresses, office boys, and janitors. Previously, workers in the industrial sector could organize themselves and collectively bargain in order to achieve an acceptable work agreement. Currently, part time workers with low wages, no benefits, and accompanied by a loose labor agreement characterize the available jobs in the service industries.
Hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of new jobs have been created as the result of information technology advancement. University graduates have been one of the most rewarded workers in the change of the industrial trends. Since inventions, discoveries, innovations, and creativity are the power behind the post industrialized economy, scientists, engineers, MBAs, attorneys, lawyers, as well as computer and information professionals, are gaining high rewards. However, the new technology does not adequately absorb other graduates that universities produced, e.g. social scientists, posing a problem in unemployed intellectuals. 
Since it will require 10 to 15 years before Indonesia reach the level of worker education as in more developed countries, the employment problem should be well taken into consideration in developing the national strategy in information technology.
Technological issues 
The world is now witnessing the convergence of telecommunication and information technology, commonly labeled as ICT. The market for telecommunication services has been several times folded due to the recent trend. The technological achievement in communication satellite has made the world literally smaller, i.e. the case of CNN broadcast during the gulf war From the information technology view, the technological advancement has provided a tremendous boost to the market. Even more dramatical is the integration of the two. It produces services that were beyond anyone comprehension 20 years ago!