menembus jurnal bintang empat: Research Policy! :)

Bagi para skolar inovasi dan kebijakan, salah satu mimpi tertinggi adalah mempublikasikan tulisan di jurnal paling bergengsi di area ini di dunia: Research Policy. Dan syukur kepada Allah, alhamdulillah, halleluya 🙂 tulisan saya akhirnya nongol di jurnal ini. Yeay!!! 🙂 *lebay* Dan tentu saja, ini menerbitkan di RP ini bukan jalan yang gampang dilalui bagi saya yang masih harus belajar banyak ini. Mau tahu ceritanya?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Adopting Technology, Transforming Society: The Internet and the Reshaping of Civil Society Activism in Indonesia

This paper appears in the International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society Vol 6(2):77-105

Abstract

This paper explores the impacts of Internet use in civil society organisations (CSOs) in Indonesia. Using qualitative data gathered from a series of workshops attended by CSO activists, the study argues that the Indonesian social movement today has perhaps both shaped and been shaped by the use of the Internet in CSOs. Internet use is never simple and straightforward; it is multifaceted and often raises uncertainties given that many CSOs adopt and use the technology in a number of different ways. This challenge brings enormous opportunity for CSOs and the furthering of social movement once the technology is appropriated in strategic and political ways. Despite problems and difficulties, Internet use in CSOs has had significant implications both on the internal management of the organisations and on external aspects; particularly the dynamics of social movement in the country.

The Internet and mobilisation of direct action

Among the strategic uses for the internet that Indonesian CSOs carry out is mobilising direct action. A salient example of this is the campaign against violation of human rights, forced disappearances, repression towards labourers and trade unions and campaigns for promoting gender equality, women’s rights, environment sustainability amongst others. The targets are typically government, companies and military bodies. In general, the campaign is performed by submitting an online protest on the web or circulating the issues through various mailing lists asking for support to pressurise government, parliament, military and/or companies to reconsider their actions.

What are the strategic uses of the Internet in Indonesian CSOs?

The word ‘strategic’ is among the most frequent used terms found in the entire fieldwork of this study. When investigating the strategic areas in which the Internet could be used, interviews, workshops and focus groups were overwhelmed with the term so much so that it is now urgent to understand what it really means in the context of this study. Interviews with Indonesian CSO leaders gives us a hint: Internet use is considered strategic when it addresses certain characteristic related to (i) properties of the tools or means being used; (ii) orientation of action for which the tools are used (iii) issues to which the action is tackling, and (iii) actors who perform and are affected by the action.