Beyond money, we need data

Ibrahim Kholilul Rohman
Research fellow at United Nations University’s Operating Unit on Policy-Driven Electronic Governance (UNU-EGOV)

PREMIUM

Jakarta / Tue, July 11, 2017 / 01:45 pm

A technician from telecommunications operator PT Indosat carries out maintenance work at one of the company’s base transceiver stations (BTS) in Jakarta. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies are often associated with the prosperity characterized by highly profitable business models, employees with hefty payouts or CEOs with skyrocketing bonuses and fabulous perks. This sector often serves as a rescuer in unforeseen circumstances. Take the European financial crisis, when the authorities in Greece, Hungary, Spain, France and Slovakia used their latitude to impose taxes targeting the telecommunications companies. There is a reason for this. The European Commission reported that the productivity of ICT companies is generally 50 percent greater than that of nonICT companies and has been relatively constant during the last decade. Moreover, the productivity specifically in the telecommunications industry is greater by a factor of three compared to the other industries. The picture is more staggering if we take into ...