This volume provides a lively review of recent economic and political developments in Indonesia and addresses the issue of the country's "Technological Challenge" from a variety of perspectives. These include the policy foundations, the analytical issues, case studies, international co-operation and transfers, as well as particular challenges at the sectoral level and among both large and small enterprises. This is the first volume in English to examine these important questions facing the world's fourth largest country.

Using a historical sociology approach, this book illustrates the formation of the technological state in Indonesia during the New Order period (1966-1998). It explores the nexus between power, high technology, development, and authoritarianism situated in the Southeast Asian context. The book discusses how the New Order regime shifted from the developmental state to the technological state, which was characterized by desire for technological supremacy. The process resulted in the establishment of a host of technological institutions and the undertaking of large-scale high-tech programs. Shedding light on the political dimension of socio-technological transformation, this book looks at the relationship between authoritarian politics and high technology development, and examines how effectively technology serves to sustain legitimacy of an authoritarian power. It explores into multiple features of the Indonesian technological state, covering the ideology of development, the politics of technocracy, the institutional structure, and the material and symbolic embodiments of high technology, and goes on to discuss the impact of globalization on the technological state. The book is an important contribution to studies on Southeast Asian Politics, Development, and Science, Technology, and Society (STS).

Dedicated to George McT. Kahin, this collection examines the genesis and evolution of the modern Indonesian nation-state. Essay topics range from the nation's imaginative conception to the Suharto government's political and financial infrastructure. Contributors include F.P. Bunnell, R. McVey, T. Shiraishi, and B. R. O'G. Anderson.

East Asia has been an area of high economic growth for several decades. The East Asian High-Tech Drive argues that to maintain the growth momentum, the more advanced East Asian economies need to pay particular attention to policies designed to upgrade their industrial capabilities. The authors argue that effectively functioning institutions, predictable commercial policies, investments in human capital and infrastructure, openness and macroeconomic stability are essential for growth and technological development. Regarding the two lower income economies in the sample, Indonesia is found to have the smallest improvement in the skill intensity of its exports, while the Philippines has registered the slowest economic growth. For both countries, industrial upgrading issues are not as imperative as achieving or regaining rapid, labour-intensive growth as both recently experienced major political instabilities.

In the coming decades, East Asian economies must face the challenges of an increasingly globalized marketplace. This book explores the changing parameters of competition in East Asia, and argues that success ultimately will depend on the ability of the region's firms to harness the potential of global production networks and to build their own innovative capability. Presenting the latest findings on global production networks and the evolution of technological capabilities, it provides researchers, students, and policymakers with in-depth information and analysis on key issues related to growth and development in East Asia. East Asian firms must not only achieve greater efficiency but also become more innovative, offering differentiated products in order to vie with other first-tier suppliers of multinational corporations. These firms will also need to develop a technological edge if they are to compete with corporations from the leading OECD countries and form their own global production networks. 'Global Production Networking and Technological Change in East Asia' argues that a development strategy linked to technological advance will be necessary to foster the growth of innovative national firms that can remain competitive in global markets.