The Government of Indonesia has been a member of the IOC-UNESCO (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) since 1963. Starting from 1993, Indonesia has been actively involved as a member of the Executive Council together with 40 other member countries. The Indonesian national committee of the IOC-UNESCO was under the direction of the Deputy of Natural Sciences of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) until 1999 that conducted researches related to basic and natural sciences. Currently, it has been under the Deputy of Earth Sciences of LIPI since 2001 due to an internal reorganization that expanded the former Deputy to form Deputies of Life Sciences (IPH) and Earth Sciences (IPK) in 2000.
The Indonesian National Committee of the IOC, or referred to as PN-KOA (Panitia Nasional KomisiOseanografiAntarbangsa), consists of representatives from government institutions that focus on marine and maritime issues. The organizational structure of PN-KOA consists of the National Advisory Board (NAB) and the National Scientific Board (NSB), and is assisted by its Secretariat at the Research Center for Oceanography of LIPI and by the Science Cooperation Bureau of LIPI.