Nusa Dua, Bali (ANTARA) – Indonesia’s Communication and Digital Affairs Ministry is accelerating digital ecosystem development to help drive economic growth toward the government’s 8 percent target for 2029, a ministry official said Thursday.
“The strategy for the next five years is to strengthen the first pillar, connectivity,” Director General of Digital Ecosystem at the Communication and Digital Affairs Ministry Edwin Hidayat Abdullah said on the sidelines of the Bali Annual Telkom International Conference (BATIC) 2026 in Nusa Dua, Badung District, Bali.
Indonesia is projected to become a major center of digital economic growth, with the digital economy potentially reaching about US$130 billion annually, Edwin said.
He said the government was strengthening connectivity through physical infrastructure development that has grown faster than gross domestic product (GDP).
The information and communication technology (ICT) sector has grown 8 percent over the past 10-15 years, he said.
Beyond connectivity, the government is strengthening financing for infrastructure and technology companies, while developing young talent and expanding digital literacy programs.
“We are investing heavily in education because we need more than nine million talents. That is why we are collaborating not only across governments, but also with technology companies and civil society,” Edwin said.
The government also acts as a catalyst for the digital ecosystem, using regulation to address market failures rather than control the sector.
“We regulate not to control, but to correct market failures,” Edwin said.
Another priority is market equality through the development of a data ecosystem to increase data transactions, alongside efforts to strengthen regulatory compliance.
Indonesia has significant market potential, with a population of 286 million, about 80 percent of whom are already connected to the internet, Edwin said.
However, he said further digital literacy efforts were needed to ensure technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), are used more productively.
“About 92 percent of workers are already familiar with AI. However, only 15 percent of them use it productively,” he said.
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Translator: Dewa Ketut S W, Martha Herlinawati Simanjuntak
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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