RTI International has done a wide range of international work but the research institute’s latest contract carries the distinction of being the company’s biggest.

AusAID, the Australian government agency that manages Australia’s overseas aid program, has awarded RTI a five-year, $96 million contract to work in Indonesia. While RTI has landed U.S. contracts that valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars, RTI President and CEO Wayne Holden said that the AusAID contract is the biggest ever from a non-U.S. source.

“We’re excited about it because it’s an innovative, cutting edge model to address an emerging economy,” Holden told WRAL Tech Wire.

RTI has had a presence in Indonesia for the last 25 years. Its office in Jakarta, currently staffed by 80 people, has has done work in health and education programs. The new AusAID contract stretches across multiple sectors as RTI will be called upon to help various Indonesian groups and organizations improve the ways that they gather and analyze public policy information. RTI will also help connect groups with policy makers so that they can use the information effectively in developing policies and programs.

It’s the first time that RTI has worked with AusAID. RTI will not be sending staff to Indonesia from its Research Triangle Park headquarters. Instead, RTI will be hiring locally in Indonesia for the new project, though Holden could offer no estimates on how big RTI’s presence in Jakarta could become. He did note that RTI has a number of smaller offices in Indonesia besides the Jakarta site.

The AusAID contract lasts covers the first five years of what AusAID has outlined as a 15-year project. After five years, Holden hopes that RTI will be able to demonstrate enough success to continue the work.

RTI is not the only entity working with AusAID on this project. Australia’s NOSSAL Institute for Global Health and the University of Melbourne are among those also contributing to the AusAID project in Indonesia.