Masalah kota, masalah kita – rusuh kota, rusuh kita

Menanggapi kerusuhan di Inggris -yang juga melanda kota dimana kami tinggal di Manchester- saya menulis catatan di bawah ini sebagai reaksi atas berbagai analisis yang gencar muncul di media. Catatan ini saya kirim ke harian Kompas 11 Agustus dan, setelah diedit sana-sini, dimuat tanggal 22 Agustus 2011 (silakan baca di sini). Sebelumnya, juga saya ‘kicau’kan di Twitter, yang diarsip rekan saya mas Suryaden di blognya (di sini).

Selamat menikmati catatan (yang lebih lengkap) ini – semoga berguna.

dari home-education summer festival 2011

Akhir Juli 2011 kami sekeluarga mengikuti Home-Education Summer Festival (HESFES) 2011 di Rougham, Ipswich. Kami memang (setidaknya saat ini) memilih meng-home-educate kedua anak kami. Dan inilah pertama kalinya kami mengikuti festival ini. Rame, gayeng.

Saya dan istri saya, Ira, berkolaborasi menulis pengalaman keikutsertaan kami di acara tersebut. Silakan simak di blognya.

Salam,
y

Social media in civil society— citizens in @ction

The Jakarta Post - OPINION, 30 April 2011
Yanuar Nugroho – MIOIR, Manchester
Shita Laksmi – HIVOS, Jakarta

Among many recent trends specifically in technology and civic engagement in Indonesia, two are highly salient.

One, statistics show convincingly that globally Indonesia ranks highly in terms of social media use, as home to the second-largest number of Facebook users (35.2 million) and as number four in terms of Twitter users (4.9 million). Undoubtedly, social media has become an inseparable part of life for many Indonesians.

Two, the blossoming of civic activism goes beyond the confinement of formal organizations that are organized around common interests and concerns, aiming at transforming some aspects of social life. This ranges from activism, as in the case of hundreds of thousands of people who backed Prita Mulyasari in her legal fight against Omni International Hospital, to the “Bike2Work” movement in many cities in Indonesia aiming at promoting healthier lifestyle whilst combating pollution.

Report: Social media & civil society in Indonesia (updated)

DIPERBARUI/UPDATED 7/5/2011

(English version below)

Beberapa saat yang lalu saya dan mbak Shita Laksmi mempost di blog ini sebuah permintaan tolong untuk berpartisipasi dalam sebuah studi yang dilakukan bersama oleh Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIOIR), Universitas  of Manchester UK dan  HIVOS Netherlands Regional Office Southeast Asia mengenai media sosial dan peranserta sipil di Indonesia. Studi ini telah berakhir dan laporan lengkap bisa didownload di sini.  Laporan dalam Bahasa Inggris akan sudah dirilis di MIOIR pada hari Senin 4 April 2011 3-5 sore (silakan daftar lewat email saya) dan di Universitas Salfor hari Rabu jam 2.30-4.30 sore (silakan daftar di sini). Dalam acara rilis laporan tersebut juga akan telah dilakukan pemutaran film dokumenter  tentang media sosial dan gerakan sosial di Indoensia, @linimas(s)a, yang juga didanai sebagian oleh HIVOS. Cuplikan film tersebut bisa disaksikan di sini.

Laporan ini diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Indonesia oleh mas Aresto Yudo Sujono (@arestoyudo) dan diedit oleh mas BlontankPoer (@blontankpoer). Rencananya, laporan versi Bahasa Indonesia ini akan dirilis -bersamaan dengan pemutaran penuh film @linimas(s)– di Jakarta, 12 Mei 2011 dalam sebuah acara yang diselenggarakan bersama-sama oleh Internetsehat, ICTWatch, WatchDOC, AkademiBerbagi dan HIVOS di Goethe Institute jam 6-9 malam (konferensi pers jam 3-5 sore). Silakan hadir. Versi Bahasa Indonesia laporan Citizens in @ction / @ksi Warga bisa diunduh di sini.

The return of Big Brother to Indonesia?

The Jakarta Post – Opinion, 30 March 2011
Yanuar Nugroho
Manchester, United Kingdom

Advances in Internet technology have changed the way people live. For many it has brought the appealing promises of global community, democracy and openness.

Many others fear technological threats such as alienated individuals, anarchy, surveillance and repression. The House of Representatives’ proposed intelligence bill is a clear example of the latter.

The bill, if enacted into law, would give the authorities a free pass to monitor conversations and exchanges on the Internet.

Even worse, the bill would give legal justification to the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) to detain anyone suspected of threatening public security based on exchanges on social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook.

While the very same social media have given birth of a new type of civic engagement globally, in Indonesia, in the eyes of the bill’s drafters, technology is a threat.

Call for paper: Social Implications of ICTs in the Indonesian Context

Merlyna Lim and I are inviting you to submit paper to be considered in a special issue of the Internetworking Indonesia Journal (IIJ),  a peer reviewed semi-annual electronic journal devoted to the timely study of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Internet development in Indonesia. We are seeking manuscripts that look at a wide variety of ICT uses and what implications these uses have on people, organizations and society in the Indonesian context as the technology becomes more widely available. We also welcome those who look at the other side of the coin, i.e. manuscripts that focus on the cultural, social and political shaping of the technologies by Indonesian society.

Although the journal accepts manuscripts in Indonesian, we prefer to have English ones for the sake of wider audience  coverage.

Read the full Call for Papers here.

An innovation perspective of knowledge management in a multinational subsidiary

Journal of Knowledge Management, 15(1):71-87

1. Introduction

Organisations nowadays have been faced with the challenges of managing increasingly more complex activities in the knowledge-based economy. As Castells (2000) suggests, knowledge economy is characterised as being informational, global and networked. In his view, information and knowledge plays an important role in modern economy, giving new perspective to the works of some earlier economists who had already hinted this issue, such as Marshall (1965), Hayek (1945) and Schumpeter (1951, 1952). The consequence of this is clear: organisations working in knowledge economy cannot but conceive themselves as learning agents capable of creating and managing knowledge to achieve their purpose (Antonelli, 2008).

Survey: Internet, social media, dan komunitas sipil di Indonesia

Rekan-rekan sekalian, para pegiat Komunitas/Kelompok/Jaringan/Organisasi Masyarakat Sipil di Indonesia,

dimanapun Anda berada

Saat ini kami, Yanuar Nugroho dan Shita Laksmi dari Universitas Manchester UK dan HIVOS, ingin mengundang Anda sekalian untuk berpartisipasi dalam survey untuk mengetahui bagaimana komunitas/kelompok/lembaga/jaringan/organisasi masyarakat sipil di Indonesia memanfaatkan teknologi informasi, khususnya internet dan social media. Survey ini ditujukan untuk komunitas/kelompok/lembaga/organisasi bukan perorangan. Cukup satu orang mengisi untuk satu komunitas/kelompok/lembaga/organisasi.

Ada beberapa kemungkinan mengikuti/mengisi survey ini.

• Pertama, melalui survey online – silakan klik link ini, atau copy and paste-kan pada browser Anda: http://mbs.qualtrics.com/SE?SID=SV_0cEQLkCyokGzZME
• Kedua, melalui form MS-Word. Silakan download di sini dan setelah diisi dan disave, kirimkan kepada saya dan/atau mbak Shita di alamat email kami di bawah.
• Ketiga, melalui form Open Office (ODT). Silakan download di sini dan setelah diisi dan disave, kirimkan kepada saya dan/atau mbak Shita di alamat email kami di bawah.

Exploring Knowledge Management in Civil Society Organisations

Exploring Knowledge Management in Civil Society Organisations: Sustaining Commitment, Advancing Movement

by Yanuar Nugroho and Mirta Amalia

Manchester Business School (MBS) Working Paper No. 600
Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIOIR) Working Paper No. 56

This paper is currently under review in the International Conference of Knowledge Management and Information Sharing (KMIS), part of IC3K (International Joint Conference on Knowledge Discovery, Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management), Valencia, Spain 25-28 October 2010, and is being revised for a journal submission.

Abstract

Civil society organisations (CSOs) have recently attracted much research attention, as they have become more central in social as well as economic and political dynamics, challenging and shaping the work of the state/public organisations and of the private institutions. Despite the fact that they are actually knowledge-intensive organisations, CSOs –like any other organisations– are faced with new challenges due to the advent of knowledge economy. Knowledge-capital in CSOs is highly diverse and this affects both the organisational performance and the civil society movement within which they are part of. Most of the knowledge in CSOs that has been driving and characterising civil society activities and realms is tacit in nature and is largely unmanaged. Consequently, in the long run, the organisations and their movement often become unstable despite efforts to manage their activities. We use the works of Polanyi and Nonaka to help address this problem and conceptualise the corpus of knowledge in CSOs. To anchor this conceptualisation, we feature the case of Indonesia where CSOs in a latecomer economy have been significantly influencing the work of public and private sectors. We find that managing tacit knowledge has been crucial to sustain the engagements with beneficiaries and networks. We propose taxonomy to understand different types of knowledge in CSOs and suggest a guiding principle to strategically manage it.

Full paper
available for download from here

Comments are most welcome!

Knowledge Management in Multinational Subsidiary in Indonesia: A lesson learned

Last year, among the students I was supervising, was a brilliant student from Indonesia who finally got her MSc with distinction: Mirta Amalia. Her dissertation explored and investigated the ways in which a multinational company susbsidiary devised and implemented the knowledge management strategy. It was a very interesting dissertation. She found fascinating empirical data on the importance of “enabling session” which was arguably vital in the process of tacit knowledge transfer within the company. However, she noted that this scheme was at large at risk as there had been no clear prioritisation.

I can keep on and on and on talking about her dissertation, but I’d better stop here. Contact her directly if you want to read her intriguing dissertation. What I want to say is that the way she formulated and wrote the dissertation was quite sophisticated and I thought the dissertation should not stop there. So I encouraged her to build on that work and write papers.

NGOs, the Internet and Sustainable Development

NGOs, THE INTERNET AND SUSTAINABLE RURAL DEVELOPMENT
The case of Indonesia

Information, Communication and Society, 13(1):88-120, 2010

Yanuar Nugroho

Abstract
Today sustainable rural development is of paramount importance in Indonesian development. Yet, different social actors have different perspectives on it. Non-government organizations (NGOs) in Indonesia have established themselves in pivotal positions in the social, economic and political landscape across the country, and a large amount of their work has been connected with development in the rural sector. But, there has been little attempt to understand how NGOs in Indonesia, particularly rural NGOs, engage with the issue of sustainable rural development itself. Since rural development is one of the oldest issues to be discussed among activists, since the early days of Indonesian NGOs, it is interesting to see how they understand the issue of sustainability in rural development and rural reform. An empirical study was conducted recently to see how some Indonesian NGOs, in their endeavour to respond to and broaden the discourse, utilize Internet technology. The study employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches to build a detailed story about how different organizations working in rural development deploy strategies to deal with the issue. By doing so, it aspires to contribute to the advancement of theory relating to the efficacy of the Internet as a tool for social reform and sustainable development by taking Indonesia as a case study.

a sign…

the white britain

i believe in divine intervention. i believe in the ‘sign’ from ‘high-above’ – whatever people call it: God, god, gods, ultimate-energy, whatever. this picture will always remind me of that. in the beginning of this year, yearning for things to be just fine, in my prayer i asked for a ‘sign’: snow – and granted! (BBC and independent forecasted the snow would start two days later). a bit too much, though..! – a coincidence? perhaps. but i don’t care. divine signs and miracles are always coincidences – it depends on how you see them!

thank you, and thank You
(ma – ch, 4/1/10:5.15pm – when the first snow fell)

How low can you go? Catatan akhir 2009

Natalan kemarin, seperti pernah terjadi pada tahun 2007, Ira mengajak Aruna dan Nara ke sebuah panti asuhan di dekat rumah di Pontianak. Panti asuhan itu khusus menangani anak-anak yang menderita hydrochepalus – kelainan akibat akumulasi cairan saraf di otak. Aruna bermain-main dengan anak-anak Panti yang sepantaran dirinya. Nara sempat takut melihat cacat fisik para penderita hydrochepalus itu, tapi cuma sesaat, lantas menunjukkan simpati dan kedekatan pada mereka. Kata Ira, Nara suka mengelus bayi-bayi hydrochepalus itu sambil bilang, “Adik bayi … sayang … sakit? sayang …” – memang belum banyak perbendaharaan katanya, tetapi Nara yang baru 2.5 tahun itu sudah menunjukkan empati besar pada ‘adik-adiknya’ yang menderita.

Opening the Black Box: Adoption of Innovations in Voluntary Organisations

The image is taken from http://frontlineclub.com/blogs/onnikkrikorian/civil_society_poster.jpg

I received an email from SSRN today, saying that this paper was on the Top 10 List as of yesterday 8-12-2009. Not a great deal, but still, I’m quite happy. This paper was presented at ISPIM conference in Singapore December 2008 and -after some revisions- was published as Manchester Business School Working Paper No. 576. This paper was submitted to Research Policy, which, very very luckily did not reject it but suggested me to do some revision for resubmission. Of course, for an innovation scholar, the chance to publish in Research Policy (even if it is just a chance!) is too good to miss. Just wish me luck, guys!

Incorporating network perspectives in foresight: A methodological proposal

Foresight (2009), Volume 11(6): 21-41
Yanuar Nugroho and Ozcan Saritas

Abstract

Purpose – A particular feature that makes foresight powerful is its capability to learn from past trends to help guide decision-making for future policy. However, in studying both past and future trends, network perspectives are often missing. Since networks are capable of revealing the structure that underpins relationships between stakeholders, key issues and actions in the past, they are powerful to help envisage the future. The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodological framework to incorporate network analysis in foresight.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper develops a generic framework to incorporate network analysis into foresight’s five stages. Trends identified by respondents of the Big Picture Survey are used to demonstrate how we operationalize this framework.

Microfinance and Innovation: Are we reinventing the Wheel?

I had an opportunity to co-author with my ex supervisor Professor Ian Miles to write an opinion in the world magazine MicrofinanceInsights. The piece appears in the latest edition (Vol 15, Nov/Dec 2009). I quote the editorial’s comment:

Innovation: Are we Reinventing the Wheel?

In this issue, we look at different innovations—product, technology, and financial—that are adding value and efficiency to the sector. In our Commentary, Ian Miles and Yanuar Nugroho of the University of Manchester, argue that microfinance is now poised to bridge the gap between the privileged and the bottom of the pyramid, with the help of innovations that bear no resemblance to the Wall Street machinations that helped bring the global economy to its knees. In our cover story, Stephen Hodgson of Redport International and Yana Watson of Dalberg Global Development Advisors, question the nature of innovation that has taken place in microfinance to date; cite examples from the annals of financial history that could work well when applied to microfinance; and conclude that the sector might be better served if it adopts models that have been tried and tested in other spheres of finance. The issue brims with examples of innovations that work—from mobile technology in India to financial education for Mongolian teenagers to ATM-style kiosks in Georgia—and ones that don’t, such as the Business Correspondent system, which has faltered in India. In this issue’s Survey, our team polled 180 microfinance institutions about how Information & Communication Technology has influenced their work. You will also find the results of a Reader Survey we conducted in September to gauge what our audience thinks of Microfinance Insights so we can tailor the content to suit their preferences.

Growing green: Venture capital support for clean technology

InnoGRIPS Newsletter No. 9, October 2009

by Jennifer Hayden and Yanuar Nugroho
Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, University of Manchester, United Kingdom

Global venture capital has been hit hard by the recession, dampening the prospects for many would-be start-ups at just the time when job creation and innovation are badly needed. Venture capital plays a critical role in funding the risky, early stages that other forms of finance often shy away from. Fund managers bring a mix of expertise and capital to guide a good idea to fruition with the goal of reaping large pay-offs at the IPO, but more often than not the venture fails – a risk that traditional funding bodies will not take on board. The success of the venture capital industry is important because it acts as a catalyst for innovation in the economy and can be critical in bringing course-altering technologies to the fore1. It is promising then that global venture capital is addressing itself to the grand challenge of climate change through its support of green technologies.

The Ties that Bind: Law, Islamisation and Indonesia’s Prosperous Justice Party (PKS)

Australian Journal of Asian Law, (2008), Vol 10 (2): 233-267
Najwa Shihab, Yanuar Nugroho

Abstract

There are clear indications that Indonesia’s Prosperous Justice Party (Partai Keadilan Sejahtera or PKS) has shifted from being a hardline (garis keras) Islamist party, to take a more moderate stance, with significant changes to its platform. Prominent among these are decisions to step back from earlier demands for the enforcement of Islamic law and the creation of an Islamic state in Indonesia, as well as major modifications to doctrinal positions relating to the legal status of women as leaders, and formal relations with non-Muslims. This article investigates the factors that have contributed to this shift, and argues that it is a result of political processes in Indonesia that compel PKS to moderate its platform to expand its constituency. It is also argued that an ideological transformation has taken place within PKS, that the transformation is genuine, albeit contested internally, and that it is probably necessary for electoral success.

Authors

Najwa Shihab is an Indonesian journalist specialising in law, politics and social change. She has been working as an anchor and host of political talk shows on an Indonesian national television network. She is currently undertaking a Masters program in the Faculty of Law at the University of Melbourne.

Yanuar Nugroho is Research Associate with the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research at the University of Manchester. His research interests include new media innovation and social change, focusing on civic politics and democracy. He is also active in the Indonesian NGO movement and is associated with Business Watch Indonesia (BWI), Uni Sosial Demokrat and ELSPPAT.

This article is dated 2008, but was just out in September 2009 . Read the full article here, or here. Or if you cannot get the access, email me or Najwa and we perhaps can share the pre-publication proof for you – depending what it is for ..

Top 10 Innovation Studies Journals

One of the projects I am working on is INNO-GRIPS, which is a multi-activities EU-funded project focusing on pooling innovation knowledge. We have a repository site which hosts some of the outputs of the project here (see the left panel). We also have a blog here (do visit, benefit from it … and leave comments!). Recently we met some PhD students and asked their experience with our GRIPs project. It is interesting to learn that what we blog do benefit the students (despite there are barely comments). One of the favourites is the “Top 10 Innovation Studies Journals”. Here it is …

Hubs and wires: Internet use in Indonesian NGOs is strengthening civil society

Two days after the tsunami hit the northern tip of Sumatra on Boxing Day 2004, Yayasan AirPutih (airputih.or.id ) began working quietly, far from publicity, to reconstruct the communication backbone destroyed by the disaster. Using VHF/UHF radio, V-Sat and wireless technology, AirPutih restored communication in Aceh, making its first Internet broadcast on 30 December 2004. This was in spite of the radio silence policy imposed by the local military and government. Yayasan AirPutih also provided the first free satellite telephone and wireless Internet connection in Banda Aceh for humanitarian relief organisations working in the area and continued to do so until it ran out of money. In addition, Yayasan AirPutih played a vital role in establishing the first media centre (acehmediacenter.or.id ) which relayed to the world what happened at ‘ground zero’, channelled support and coordinated humanitarian aid. Without Yayasan AirPutih, the reconstruction of an information infrastructure and initial relief in Aceh after the disaster would have been impossible.

The urgent need to reconstruct Aceh’s information infrastructure, and in particular to provide Internet access, reflects the importance of this technology to the work of both Indonesian and foreign NGOs and aid organisations. Yet Internet use among Indonesian NGOs is a relatively recent phenomenon. It is only in the last decade or so that the Internet has became more widely available and the technology adopted by Indonesian NGOs. However, in that time, Internet use has had a significant impact on the organisations and their work.

Read the full article in INSIDE INDONESIA here.