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Airlangga and Blair: Bringing technology revolution for economic transformation
Indonesia can secure its position as a major global player by harnessing the technology revolution to sustain its economic transformation.
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Photos courtesy of Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Republic of Indonesia
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ndonesia can secure its position as a major global player by harnessing the technology revolution to sustain its economic transformation. Strong policy design to enable a more productive, innovative and competitive economy will matter for the next phase of its development. Policymakers are already taking steps to get ahead of the pace of change, particularly putting in place a framework for agile government.
Global stability, prosperity and sound policy choices are vital for Indonesia’s economic transformation. It is a strong economy, having achieved long-term macroeconomic stability, significantly alleviated poverty and, despite pandemic scarring, reached the status of an upper-middle-income economy. Indonesia’s vision is to be a sovereign, advanced, fair and prosperous nation by its centennial in 2045, and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060 or sooner.
These goals are within reach. Policymakers are prioritizing breakthrough reforms to decarbonize, accelerate digitalization and technological advancement and leverage Indonesia’s demographic bonus.
Indonesia is well-positioned to ride the wave of technology revolution, including generative artificial intelligence. It has the necessary building blocks – a growing tech-savvy workforce, a steadily-growing number of start-ups, a healthy innovation ecosystem – all enabled by growing trade and investment to help diffuse knowledge and technology across sectors.
To prepare a globally skilled workforce, Indonesia is incentivizing foreign university campuses across the nation, as well as rolling out four Apple Academies and the IBM Hybrid Cloud Academy. The pre-employment card has also been a huge success in skilling up 17.1 million people through their choice of training. To date, this government-to-people initiative directly enables more inclusive transformation, 64% of participants live in rural areas, and 51% were women. A top priority is ensuring no one is left behind, by empowering people and communities through investing in skills, capabilities and social support.
Indonesia is ready to harness technology for growth in various areas. In health, Indonesia could leverage technology to meet clinical needs. Its response to COVID-19 is already a good example, as access to data and analysis through the PeduliLindungi (now SATUSEHAT) tracking app enabled treatment and support to be quickly dispatched. Indonesia’s focus on strengthening its contribution to global values is also being enabled by Making Indonesia 4.0, an innovative framework for digitizing manufacturing from the factory to the user.
As the largest economy and democracy in the fastest-growing region of the world, Indonesia is committed to strengthening international cooperation, especially for enabling the benefits of technological revolution and going digital. Indonesia’s presidency of the Group of 20 fostered dialogue among members to achieve consensus on the Bali Leaders’ Declaration, including discussions on the free flow of data with trust and consumer protection, a need that will continue to grow. Indonesia recently expressed interest in joining the OECD and meeting its high standards. This will also enable better policies for economic transformation and technological advancement.
Given the backdrop of the coming technology revolution, policymakers are preparing now for the economy to transform at a rapid pace, while also ensuring that public needs and interests are protected. Technology will help to achieve these goals, as well as sustainable development.
This article was published in collaboration with Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Republic of Indonesia
