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The Indonesian government has prepared a Digital Indonesia Roadmap 2021-2024 in 4 strategic sectors, namely digital infrastructure, digital government, digital economy and digital society. The Minister of Communication and Information, Johnny G. Plate, explained the strategy of the Government of Indonesia in increasing connectivity to bridge the digital divide.
“The Indonesian government wants to be stronger in this digital era, both in digital finance, digital banking, e-commerce, digital tourism, digital MSMEs, and many others. To realize towards a Connected Indonesia: the more digital, the more prosperous," he explained at the Asia Tech x Singapore 2021 - AtxSummit Forum, Future Role of Connectivity: Bridging the Digital Divide which took place virtually from Jakarta, Tuesday (13/07/2021).
ATxSG 2021 is a new concept from an innovation exhibition called Smart Nation Innovation Week (SNIW) which is regularly held every year by the Government of Singapore since 2015. The exhibition combines elements of technology, digital society, and digital economy. ATxSG 2021 will be held from 13 to 16 July 2021 at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.
Regarding the development of digital infrastructure, the Minister of Communication and Information stated that the Indonesian government and telecommunications companies have deployed a fiber optic cable network of 342,000 kilometers on land and sea optical fiber, as the backbone of information and communication technology connectivity.
"There is no doubt that Indonesia will continue to deploy ICT infrastructure throughout the archipelago, especially to connect points in rural, outermost, and underdeveloped areas," he said.
Minister Johnny stated that currently there are 9 telecommunications satellites, microwave links, and fiber-link networks that are currently used to support telecommunications and digital needs.
"This will also be supported by the High Throughput Multifunction Satellite SATRIA-I with a capacity of 150 Gbps. The multifunction satellite is used to complement the fiber optic cable network that has been built and will orbit in the 4th Quarter of 2023 because Indonesia needs a very large satellite capacity in the next 10 years," he explained.
In addition, more than 500,000 Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) have also been built to enable 4G signal coverage, reaching Indonesian people, including in very remote areas. This 4G signal coverage will become the backbone of digital infrastructure, to support Indonesia in accelerating Digital Transformation.
According to the Minister of Communication and Information, the availability of BTS allows Indonesian MSME players to be able to switch to digital onboard. He explained that currently there are an estimated 11 million digital MSMEs in Indonesia and some of them are in the scaling-up stage to support the Indonesian economy.
"We hope that by the end of 2024, at least 30 million Indonesian MSMEs will be digitally onboarded. Therefore, Kominfo ensures the reliability of ICT infrastructure through the deployment of fixed broadband and mobile broadband to meet digital needs and close the digital divide, making everyone digitally connected, so that infrastructure development is fair, inclusive and beneficial for all," he explained.
Minister Johnny also said that Indonesia had just launched 5G commercial operations in 9 cities. “This is still in a very early stage, but we will do everything possible to accelerate the deployment of 5G, including farming and refarming the frequency spectrum across all frequency band levels. Great opportunities ahead are waiting for us," he said.
It doesn't stop there, after accelerating infrastructure which is the main foundation in accelerating digital transformation, Minister Johnny stated that his party is preparing for the formation of a digital society, including; Digital Government, Digital Economy, to Increasing Digital Human Resources.
“The application of the concept of digital government to support and encourage efficient, effective, and transparent public services. We are in the process of integrating government services through data consolidation, under the One Data Indonesia Initiative. We plan to build 4 Government Data Centers, starting this year, Tier-IV Global Standards Data Centers,” he explained.
Digital Economy Optimization
According to the Minister of Communication and Information, the massive digital infrastructure development and the provision of government data centers for digital government services are expected to be utilized for the development of Indonesia's digital economy.
“Downstream from ICT infrastructure is the digital economy itself. Hence, we must utilize our infrastructure to take advantage of the digital economy. In Indonesia today, the backbone of our economy is MSMEs and Ultra Micro which contributes 61.07% of the national GDP," he explained.
Citing data from Google Temasek, Minister Johnny revealed that currently Indonesia's Digital Economy is projected to exceed 124 billion USD by the end of 2024. According to him, this is what drives Indonesia's Digital Economy in the region to have grown by double digits at 10.58% last year.
Therefore, according to Minister Johnny, the Indonesian government is paying serious attention to 64.2 million Indonesian MSMEs to be able to go digital onboard, because of the huge potential of Indonesia's digital economy. In fact, the Government has targeted that by 2024, the number of MSME players who are incorporated into the digital ecosystem can increase rapidly to 30 million players through the National Program for the Proud Movement Made in Indonesia.
In fact, President Joko Widodo encouraged Indonesia to produce unicorns and digital startups in the digital financial services sector, industrial digitization, entertainment media (digital broadcasting), digital agriculture and fisheries, digital education, digital health, and real-estate or digital cities.
“I will support the consolidation of the telecommunications business, digital platform, Indonesian digital startup, for a stronger and more reliable business and industry. It is also important for Indonesia to play a role in the production and manufacturing of ICT systems, networks and products, digital banking and e-commerce, and related downstream digital businesses, tourism and logistics," said the Minister of Communications and Informatics.
Develop Digital Talent
Seeing the great potential of the digital economy, Minister Johnny assessed that it needs to be supported by the existence of a digital community so that Indonesia can become the host of the digital economy itself.
Minister Johnny said the success of digital transformation depends on people's readiness to go digital. Therefore, Kominfo has prepared several programs to enable Indonesians to enter the digital space in various ways, including through the Digital Literacy Movement which is targeted at at least 12.4 million Indonesians every year, to provide them with access to virtual training on basic digital, curriculum such as digital ethics, digital security, digital culture, and basic digital skills.
“The potential is great and this is a cross-ministerial and institutional work. This is where building starts from the most basic, namely digital talent itself. Kominfo provides great support along with its ecosystem, including global technology companies, our e-Commerce or digital platforms to fill out digital training for the basic level community," he explained.
To prepare a digital society, Kominfo has prepared a Digital Talent Scholarship program specifically designed for the Indonesian Millennial Generation to be attended by at least 100,000 participants every year. “This program is suitable for those who have intermediate skills and focus on cloud computing, AI, IoT, Big Data Analytics, etc. We also invite global technology companies to join us in this digital training model,” said Minister Johnny.
In addition, there is also a Digital Leadership Academy program to support the development of smart cities and digital policy makers, as well as digital startup founders. This massive digital talent program is prepared to support the Indonesian people to go digital and take part in the Acceleration of Indonesia's Digital Transformation.
“We have prepared 100 main initiatives for 2021-2024 namely, ICT infrastructure, e-Government, Major Legislation to support the Digital Space, adoption of new technologies in the industrial sector, including Digital Health, Digital Education, Digital Media, Digital Broadcasting, e-Commerce, Digital Fintech, Digital Banking, Tourism, and Logistics," said the Minister of Communication and Information.
At the end of the presentation, Minister Johnny appreciated the 2021 ATxSG forum as an effort to share perspectives and experiences of ASEAN countries. It even hopes that it will become a reference in advancing digital transformation in ASEAN.
“It is a great honor for me to participate in the Asia Tech Singapore 2021 Summit. I look forward to the successful holding of this conference and hope that this event can result in recommendations on how Singapore and ASEAN Member States can further advance digital transformation in the region,” he said.
Besides Minister Johnny, the event which lasted for four days was also attended by the President of the Republic of Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid; Coordinating Minister for the Economy of Indonesia, Airlangga Hartarto; Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policy, Heng Swee Keat; Deputy Chief Executive, Connectivity Development & Regulation Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore, Aileen Chia; Sweden's Minister of Energy and Digital Development; Anders Ygeman, Minister of Transportation and Communication of Brunei Darussalam; Dato Abdul Muthalib Yusof, as well as other speakers from the supporting ecosystem.