International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXII, Part 6. Bandung-lndonesia 1999
RECOLLECTIONS OF THE TRANSITION TO GEOMATICS
INKINDO’S NATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCES INVENTORY
TO INCLUDE SURVEYORS AND GEOMATICIANS
Tono Saksono
Chairman, PDLI-INKINDO
Director, PT. ENTOPOS INDONESIA. Jl. Wijaya 1/71 Jakarta 12170, Indonesia.
Phone: 62-21-720-3151/52; Fax: 62-21-739-5191; http://www.entopos.co.id;
e-mail: entopos@indo.net.id; tsaksono@indo.net.id
ABSTRACT
Indonesian surveyors and geomaticians will be pleased to know that they are to be included in a national human resources inventory,
documented by the National Association of Indonesian Consultants (INKINDO). It is anticipated that the database will be the most
comprehensive statistical reference of human resources in the country. It covers more than 1,400 professions - including,
accountants, architects, civil engineers and economists - broken down into four specialization levels as set by the World Bank.
INKINDO expects some 35,000 Indonesian professionals to be recorded in the inventory, which will be accessible - both nationally
and internationally - through the association's regional offices in all twenty-seven provinces and its web-site. From the database,
information on the numbers of civil engineers specializing in dam construction, for example - including their whereabouts,
distribution, availability, professional affiliation, history of professional practice and the project scale in which they have been
involved - can be obtained. The same token will also apply for surveyors and geomaticians.
The increasing need for an accurate reference to blueprint future development of Indonesian human resources are among the main
reasons as to believe why the inventory will be precious not only to INKINDO members, but also to other professional associations,
the public, and even policy makers.
INTRODUCTION
How many Indonesian civil engineers specializing in dam
construction? Where are their whereabouts? What is their
professional affiliation? Is the history of their professional
practice and the project scale in which they were involved,
known? These are simple inquisitions yet it is widely
acknowledged that the need to address them with detail and
accuracy is crucial. Hence, one will be surprised to find out that
there is no institution in Indonesia - government or private -
that has been designated responsible for making such
information available. One may inquire to the Institute of
Indonesian Engineers (PII) without avail. Or, one might try any
of the so-called reputable universities of this country. They are
normally able to identify the hundreds of Ph.Ds in Political
Science or Economics that have graduated from their
institutions, but if it is questioned what researches these
scholars have completed, what book titles they have written and
what papers they have presented, the answer is most likely
unsatisfactory. The same vague answers are normally given by
the National Association of Indonesian Consultants
(INKINDO) to prospective clients and or partners, simply
because there is no corresponding information available - let
alone it being of a highly comprehensive standard.
INKINDO is a non-governmental organization whose members
are enterprise consultants. Subject to further verification of
those that are no longer running due to the economic crisis,
since its establishment in the early seventies, there are currently
some 3,500 consulting companies registered as INKINDO
members spreading in all twenty-seven provinces in the
country. Referring to a World Bank classification, INKINDO
members are grouped into fifteen sectors (Agriculture,
Construction, Education, Health, etc.) and ten services (Survey,
Information Services, Management Services, etc.).
It is a well-known secret that one result of the state’s ill-
dominance over society during the last 30 years or so, is
undeniably the fact that civil servants are given preference over
private professionals to continue their studies to a higher degree
(usually overseas), at the expense of the taxpayers. This policy
has therefore helped support the cultivation of government
propaganda, stating that the human resources development of
civil servants is far better than that of the private professionals.
INKINDO’s tendency - in the past - to recruit many of its
professionals from universities and other departments, has
proved the effectiveness of this propaganda. It is now realized
that to some extent, professional conducts have been sacrificed,
as higher degrees do not necessarily mean professionalism in
private sectors.
INKINDO DATABASE
Following its national consultative and working group meeting
held last year in June and September respectively, INKINDO
has been committed to set up an inventory, which is expected to
become the most comprehensive database of Indonesian experts
in the country. This inventory will then be organized by the
Center for Data and Information Service (PDLI).
PDLI will not only be beneficial to INKINDO members, but
also for the rest of interrelating community. PDLI will be able
to monitor fraud and ill-gotten information mistakenly input to
