IDS BACKGROUND
| OVERVIEW | The Institute for Development Studies (Sabah) or IDS is an autonomous,
non-profit making research organisation. Established by the Sabah State Government on 1 August 1985, IDS is
devoted to carrying out policy and problem-oriented research on socio-economic and public
administrative development issues. IDS also serves as a think tank to the Sabah State
Government. IDS was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee on 1 April 1986. Prior
to its incorporation, the Institute functioned under the name of the Institute for Public
Policy Analysis (IPPA). |
| RATIONALE | Sabah is a developing State
within Malaysia. As such the Sabah State Government has to be responsive and accommodative
to the various divergent expectations and demands of the people, while ensuring that the
State's scarce resources are optimally used and equitably distributed. For this purpose,
the Sabah State Government needs objective advice and second opinion based on independent
research and analyses to supplement and complement its existing sources of information and
research capabilities. Therefore, IDS was created to assist the Sabah State Government to
tap ideas and opinions, and also to analyse public policy proposals before they are
implemented. In this way, the Sabah State Government can enhance the quality of its
decision-making process and thereby improve its policies and programmes for the overall
benefit of the State, the nation and the people. |
| VISION | The vision of IDS is to be a premier research institute in
Malaysia on development issues. |
| MISSION | The mission of IDS is to assist the Federal and State Governments in
meeting the needs and aspirations of the people through research and analysis of
development issues based on integrity, professionalism and excellence. |
| OBJECTIVE | The fundamental objective of IDS is to promote and develop research-based decision-making process in government with regard to policy formulation and implementation. To achieve this objective, the Institute performs the following functions : |
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| ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE | The
organisational structure of IDS consists of the Board of Directors, the management,
research and supporting staff. The Board shall consist of not more than 12 members of
which six, including the Chairman, shall be appointed by the Chief Minister
of Sabah. Other Board Members shall be elected at the Institute’s Annual General
Meeting. The main function of the Board is to formulate policies and guidelines under
which IDS should operate.
The Executive Director is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Institute. He is being assisted by other senior officials comprising associate directors, research directors and heads of supporting units. |
| RESEARCH FOCUS | Among
the strategic research programmes that have been identified are: Resource
Development Programme; Enterprise Development Programme;
Tourism and Environmental Programme; Agricultural Development Programme; and
Economic Monitoring Programme.
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| SUPPORTING UNITS | The
research activities of the institutes are complemented by four supporting units: Project
Implementation; Publications and Public Relations; Administration and Finance; and
Secretariat Coordination and Networking.
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| MEMBERSHIP | The Memorandum and Articles of Association of IDS provide for the
admission of 1,000 members. Only Malaysian citizens are eligible to become members of the
Institute. Non-citizens may be admitted as associates members but they shall have no
voting rights and shall not be eligible to hold any office. The Board shall have full
discretion regarding the admission of members to the Institute. |
| FUNDING SOURCES | The main funding sources of the Institute are (1) Grants from the Sabah
State Government, (2) Grants from international funding agencies, and (3) Sale of IDS
Publications. |
| INSTITUTIONAL LINKAGES |
International Federation of
Institutes for Advanced Study (IFIAS) Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) Association of Development Research and Training Institutes of Asia and the Pacific (ADIPA) Institute of Strategic and International Studies, Malaysia (ISIS) Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) Institute of South East Asian Studies (ISEAS) Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI) Malaysian Strategic Research Centre (MSRC) Angkatan Zaman Mansang (AZAM) Sarawak Development Institute (SDI) Asian-Pacific Center (APC), Japan Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and other universities and research institutions |