Bandung High Technology Valley

Bandung High Technology Valley

Senangnya Ilmu Komputer

Kulawarga Perguruan Tinggi Bandung

Keluarga Mahasiswa Bandung

(Peneliti Muda Bandung)

A couple of years ago, the year 2000, we all fell in love with dotcom companies. Information Technology (IT) became a buzzword. I don’t even know what it really means. Amazon.com showed people how an online bookstore operates. Everybody wants to be part of the action.

Everybody wants to be “amazoned”. Silicon Valley became the destination place for many programmers, engineers, and managers. Cities in the world wanted to be “siliconized”. So did (and still does) Bandung. This is a story of Bandung High-Tech Valley.

Flashback

In 1996, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Indonesia (MITI) hired McKinsey to create a

plan for MITI. There are some suggestions, such as:

ƒ Electronic Super Sites (ESS)

ƒ Super Highway / 3 Jalur Kemudahan (Koridor Cilegon-Jakarta-Cikampek-

Purwakarta-Padalarang-Bandung)

ƒ Incentive, Taxation, Training

ƒ Domestic market – distribution

ƒ Bandung High Tech Valley (BHTV)

ƒ Technology Transfer Agency

ƒ Software and Engineering Support Development

As you can see from the above list, one of the suggested plans is to start the “Bandung High-Tech Valley” (BHTV) initiative. Another recommendation from the report is an export target of US$ 30 billions in Electronics. The definition of “electronics” at that time included information technology, modules and components, semiconductor, consumer electronics, telecommunications, and home appliances. I think the term may have changed to signify the importance of information technology.

The year 1997 was a bad year for many countries in Asia, including Indonesia. Economic crisis hit the region like a tornado. The 1996 plan seemed useless or at least was not a priority. It was unconceivable that we could get through from this crisis. But we finally managed. In 1999 we took an interest in reviving the Bandung High Tech Valley initiative. At the same time IT, the Internet, and dotcoms seemed to provide us with opportunities. Thus, there is a resurged of interests in BHTV. We changed some of the targets, though. The “IT bubble” went bust in 2001. Many dotcom companies collapsed. Is BHTV still relevant then? I think it still is.

As you can see from the above list, one of the suggested plans is to start the “Bandung High-Tech Valley” (BHTV)

initiative. Another recommendation from the report is an export target of US$ 30 billions in Electronics. The definition of “electronics” at that time included information technology, modules and components, semiconductor, consumer electronics, telecommunications, and home appliances. I think the term may have changed to signify the importance of information technology.

The year 1997 was a bad year for many countries in Asia, including Indonesia. Economic crisis hit the region like a tornado. The 1996 plan seemed useless or at least was not a priority. It was unconceivable that we could get through from this crisis. But we finally managed. In 1999 we took an interest in reviving the Bandung High Tech Valley initiative. At the same time IT, the Internet, and dotcoms seemed to provide us with opportunities. Thus, there is a resurged of interests in BHTV. We changed some of the targets, though. The “IT bubble” went bust in 2001. Many dotcom companies collapsed. Is BHTV still relevant then? I think it still is. Valley. When they went back to Indonesia, they pushed the idea of creating prosperity through high tech; semiconductors and telecommunications. Not many people understood.