Could three-dimensional manufacturing be the truly disruptive process that proponents believe it is? Will it, for instance, empower manufacturers worldwide or is equitable development from manufacturing yet another chimera for developing countries?

Whether you are cruising through the greenery of endless mountains, chugging through the ochre of a never ending desert, or crawling through the greys of the continual traffic jam that is Jakarta, you might be forgiven for thinking that land was a limitless resource; for every kilometer we cover another stretches out before us. The reality is that land is as scarce on our planet as a planet like ours is in our universe.

In US President Barack Obama’s first term in office, he made an official state visit to Indonesia praising the people, its booming economy and its impressive transition to democracy. When Chancellor Angela Merkel visited in July, Indonesia was her only Asian stop. She stated that, as with China, Germany wanted to expand its links and cooperation with Indonesia. When British Prime Minister David Cameron visited in April he applauded Indonesia as a model of democracy and Islam, and praised its booming economy.

Increasingly, “city branding” has become a key feature of modern urban centers. Good branding is associated with making cities more desirable, and successful branding can help make cities places where people want to work, live or visit.

There are so many “engines for growth” nowadays, but knowledge seems to be flavor of the month. It used to be natural resources that were the key to an economy’s growth. This turned into how these natural resources were processed when industry became the basis for growth. This was followed by technological growth, where the increased use and sale of technologies created new economic powerhouses. Has technology now been ousted by knowledge?

Have you noticed that in recent years there is an exciting new language of development ideas? Horizontal inequality, social inclusion, natural resource sustainability, energy efficiency, green jobs, global warming and global village, civic responsibility, pro-poor growth, green jobs and livable cities. All together it is quite a mouthful.

The interminable infighting and indecisions surrounding the euro, the endless meetings between ever-higher officials and heads of government, the constant news coverage about the elections in Greece, government bank bailouts in Spain and the right amount of pain that can engineer the halting of the economic rot, first in America and then in Europe, has all helped to create a permanent crisis of the mind — a policy paralysis unheard of in recent memory.

In April 2006, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono invited the private sector to get involved in infrastructure such as railways. Now, six years later, the Jakarta Metro, or the Greater Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit System (GJMRTS) as it is more formally known, is finally a “go”. After five years of preparation, developer Harvard International says a world-class – but Indonesian-funded, -designed and –managed rail project – will shortly be officially announced.

There are large deviations in the standard of health care across developing countries, particularly between the private and public sector. A significant number of people living in India and Indonesia, for example, live on or below the poverty line and the superior practice of private health care may not be available to them. Hence, the optimum delivery of public health care is critical to all.

With so much rain recently, the idea that there is not enough water in Indonesia seems counterintuitive. But there is water and there is clean water. It has been eight years since Indonesia announced its latest version of the water law, which reaffirmed individual access and availability of clean water and related sanitation facilities as a priority. Yet more than 126 million people are still without this basic human need.

One cannot open an Indonesian newspaper nowadays without a story of US-Indonesia cooperation catching one’s eye. At the same time, the United States and the Philippines are well-known strategic partners, and endless column inches are dedicated to every twist and turn of their relationship.

In an era in which Indonesia is concentrating its energies on economic development, public goods that possess something other than economic value could easily fall by the wayside. This has often been the case for the arts, whose creation and dissemination cannot be conducted through straightforward market exchange.

One thing that amazes me in the world of business is the counterintuitive ability for rivals to cooperate — if the impetus is right. Nowhere is this more important than in the transport sector. There, developers of any mass rapid transport system must take the lead in collaborating with those of subsystems.

If the government plays its cards right, the country will become stronger over time. The problem now for Indonesia is a matter of informed continuity and political will. August 17 marked 66 years of independence for Indonesia, a country that has survived everything from bitter communal strife and horrendous natural disasters to crippling financial crises and terrorist threats.

All of us like to compare ourselves to others. It is a way of self evaluating progress or more frequently, stasis. I am taller now, I am slimmer than she is, I look older than he does though we are the same age. Mirrors can be brutally revealing. Of course comparisons can be undertaken at all levels, not just the individual. These include family, tribe and region. Even countries compare themselves. Indonesia likes to use its fellow ASEAN countries as a first round comparator and being itself a country in South East Asia, a comparison with ASEAN countries ‘makes sense’.

Policies are only fit for purpose if they target the right problem. But what if a problem is not really “one problem” but a series of connected problems?

In developing countries how can governments address the health inequalities that are present and what can they learn from healthcare systems in developed countries (A look at healthcare in India and the UK)

Globalization and regional economic growth trends are changing the ways cities behave and city branding strategies are moving into a new order.

Not all Indonesians have the kind of purchasing power that can afford brand-name pharmaceuticals, which can sell for up to 15 times the price of equivalent generics.

The 2010 MDG Summit was nothing less than a once-in-a-generation paradigm shift in developmental thinking and it should also be considered a philosophical revolution. 

While the economic gains of the Asean-China Free Trade Agreement may prove significant will they mask a number of regional and national issues faced by Asean member states?

When Indonesia takes over the chair of Asean, what sort of issues will it face and how should it use the seat to bring maximum benefits to both Indonesia and Asean?

There are many serious policy lessons worth studying in the context of bilateral exchanges between Britain and Indonesia, and one of the most pertinent is the new British government’s recent determination to close its Regional Development Agencies by 2012.

An exploration into how the Thai experience can serve as a lesson for Indonesian democracy in the future.

An environment that is permissive of systemic corruption exists in Indonesia, acting as an impediment to democracy.