A request was made to write about the new paradigm of PT. Dirgantara Indonesia, after nearly four decades of its existence. It is with some hesitance that the writer of these sentences accepted the task to draw on his experience while actively involved with the early beginnings of the efforts to build a viable aircraft manufacturing industry in the late seventies, early eighties. Many of the memories have faded, and only some blurred and anecdotal snips of facts are still within the grasp of the aging mind.

          At the outset, one thing to understand is that no history of the development and growth of the PT. IPTN can be written without understanding the person and personality of Prof. Dr. Ing. B.J. Habibie, whose visionary ideas were the fundamental foundations on which the IPTN was conceived.

          As human beings develop from infancy to maturity, they go through several periods of acquiring behavioral capabilities and learning how to manage them. Society generates and masters new means of construction, production and destruction in an analogous ways.

          If true, than one can observe that Prof. Habibie was uniquely blended by influences during his early years, as the oldest son of his parents, as a student leader while studying in Europe, and his maturation as a professional, and subsequently working in a management function a research and development at MBB. These has honed his professional skills. technological acumen and his self-confidence which were essential in his further career, as an engineer, as manager for research and development, and later as a high public servant to develop the national science and technology development.

          He was born into a religious family, where discipline and harmonious tight family life were assumed important. As the eldest son he took the responsibilities of being a big brother to his brothers and sisters. Education was deemed important in his family, and this has shaped his an impact on his lifelong quest for learning. All these showed the formation of a future leader of science and technology.

          Leadership is a word that characterized his life. In the early fifties he was very active in the Indonesian student movement in Europe, where he was involved and instrumental in establishing a cohesive student organization, to include both the so-called east- and west-bloc factions. One may wish to remember that in those early years of Indonesia's transformation from a colonized into an independent and free nation, the students in particular and the youth in general were embedded in the drive to what they called 'to fulfill the aspirations of the people'. Serving the nation is important, and students were willing to assign themselves roles in a future Indonesia. Student A is to go back to Indonesia to build up the national defense, some other students are assumed to develop a viable higher education to replace the scarce universities and institutes inherited from the colonial past, some to work in a the future industrial and business environment.

          Again, these are the characteristics of young Indonesians in the early decades of our independence and at that crucial stage their life's development.

          It is useful to keep in mind and understand the European environment in the early fifties and sixties, where the World War II wounded nations were revitalizing their economy and industry. One has to also keep in mind that the cold war era was taking shape, where space was recognized as a potential dimension in the defense of the super powers. Space is the last frontier was the key phrase, and many space defense systems technology spin-offs were expected or envisaged by the industrial world.

          To master aerospace technology then is the vision. To an emerging nation, troubled by the cold war, and struggling to reshape itself from being remnants of colonies of the past, the development of a nation's strong aerospace industry seems to be essential if it wants to play a role in the world,.

          If true, then these thinking has helped shaped Habibie's vision to transform the Indonesian nation from a backward country in the backwaters of the world of science and technology, into a economically viable nation at par with the industrialized nations of the world.

          His approach was the famous 'progressive manufacturing process or program', which was intended to be a leapfrogging approach to develop national science and technology through the establishment of an aircraft if not aerospace manufacturing industry.

          And so, IPTN was born. Leapfrogging from the license manufacturing of small transport airplanes, followed by the design and development of a larger transport in cooperation with CASA of Spain, until the attempt to capture a slice of the turbo propeller commuter market, and ultimately the development of a jet engined transport.

          This was achieved thanks to massive governmental support, and an aggressive education and training effort. In addition to the aggressive construction of industrial laboratory facilities. However, it may be observed that no crucial similar and supporting development can be seen in other areas of technology and industry. There was no evidence of the transformation of other industries to qualify as aerospace supporting or supplier industries. This weakness was not recognized until the end of the nineties, and what currently can be observed was beyond expectations of nearly all.

          Meanwhile, the world is beginning to be formed by the emergence of a new industrial and economic transformation, into what is now known as an information and knowledge based global world.

          Globalization is now the banner around which nations scrambled. To play a role or to lead in a globalized future, nations should have the necessary and sufficient knowledge and capital. Just to play a role may put a heavy burden on the economy of developing countries, as globalization means interdependency in interactive interconnected relationship. Meaning among others to have infrastructure to play on the same terms within the framework of nations.

          What then can we do now? What then is the new and next paradigm? The last paradigm, if it may be named paradigm, is the establishment of IPTN under the forceful leadership of Prof. Habibie, a strong governmental funding support, and guaranteed captive domestic market. The future differs dramatically. The leadership is now in the hand of a team of talented professionals taken from the ranks. There is very limited funding, if at all. And the market has disappeared.

          What is the new environment? In the seventies, eighties and early nineties, aerospace business was booming boosted by the cold war and the exponential demand for transportation (domestically, as well as globally). Space technology was seen to be THE technology to master.

          Today in a rapidly global interconnected and interdependent world, the new rallying point is the so-called information and communication technology. Although space technology is still important, perhaps the spin-off uses are now to be watched, as well as the creation of ideas and applying innovative uses and applications of ICT in the optimization of industrial operations.

          Note that in a future free market world, free trade is the key phrase, human rights is a must, and the developing nations have to protect their industrial weaknesses, to compete against, and play the game as decided by those giants.

          If true, then the availability or unavailability of markets for our products, the competition in the arena, together with mastering of knowledge and the possession of the industrial capacity of the nation, has to be available or made available.

          If true, what are our strengths and or weaknesses then?

• A dwindling skilled and creative man force through ageing and lay-off.

• An increasingly outdated technology and manufacturing hard- and soft-ware.

• Difficult funding and funding opportunities. Due to general down turn of the global and a disastrous domestic development.

• Uncertain market developments, if at all.