HLab14 - Welcome Words by Ambassador Heinz Walker-Nederkoorn

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"Assalamu alaikum, Pak Dr. Jamhari, Pak Dr. Irfan, Pak Donnie, Pak Andreas, Pak Dr. Marc, Pabak-Pabak, ibu-ibu, yang terhormat.

Saya inging mengucapkan terima kasih atas kesempatan ini bertemu anda. Saya senang sekali bisa kembali ke Jogja dan ke UGM. Permissi, saya sekarang bicara inggris.

Ladies and Gentlemen, when I first read the title of today's Symposium "HackteriaLab 2014", I asked myself: "What the heck is HackteriaLab 2014 Symposium?

Well, as a diplomat, I'm dealing every day with our globalised world in general, and here in Indonesia, with the relation between Indonesia and Switzerland, in particular. So, at whatever function or event, I participate, I try to establish a link to globalisation and to our bilateral relation respectively.

Let me start with the link to globalisation.

What are main characteristics of globalisation? - First: there was never ever in the history of mankind such a high degree of interlinkages and interconnections, between people, countries, economies, cultures, scientists, infrastructure, you name it.

- Second: Our societes, economies, research and cultures are very much based on a high degree of specialisation. An obvious result of this specialisation is a tremendous progress of knowledge in all these areas. Take the huge progress of knowledge made in biotechnology in the last three decades as an example.

- Third: As a result of increased interdependance and high specialisation, the globalised world becomes more complex every day, and as an individual person you can forget about understanding all aspects of this progress.

- Fourth: Against this background, cross border knowledge sharing becomes more important.

Now, what is the link between main characteristics of globalisation and the "HackteriaLab2014 Symposium"?

I think, this Symposium will shed some light on some interlinkages by bringing together specialists (citizen-scientists, artists, engineers, professors, students, even diplomats) sharing their knowledge and engaging together in a democratic Do-it-yourself process without knowing the outcome.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the "HackteriaLab2014 Symposium" will also contribute to nurture and further the relations between Indonesia and Switzerland. It brings together people from Jogja with people from Switzerland engaging together in a fascinating project.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Universitas Gadja Mada - I would say the flagship University in Indonesia - for hosting the Symposium, and the teams of Hackteria, lifepatch and the Faculty of Agriculture for organising this innovative event.

Thank you for your attention and enjoy the Symposium!"

By Heinz Walker-Nederkoorn, Dubes Swiss for the HLab14-Symposium, April 2014