Batam (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga\nHartarto stated that the data centre industry in Batam, Riau Islands, is\ngrowing by approximately 22 percent year-on-year (yoy), surpassing the\nnational average growth rate of 19 percent.<\/p>\n
Airlangga said this growth indicates that Batam is increasingly\ndeveloping as one of Indonesia\u2019s digital economy hubs, supported by\ninternational-scale investment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe expansion of the data centre industry in Batam is growing 22\npercent annually, higher than the national average of around 19 percent.\nThis is the right sector to drive Indonesia\u2019s economic growth towards\nthe eight percent target,\u201d Airlangga said in Batam on Monday.<\/p>\n
He made the statement after attending the inauguration of the Nongsa\nChangi Cable (NCC), an international undersea cable connecting Batam and\nSingapore to strengthen digital connectivity between the two\ncountries.<\/p>\n
According to Airlangga, Batam is now rapidly developing as\nIndonesia\u2019s digital gateway, supported by the presence of the Nongsa\nDigital Park (NDP) area, which continues to attract data centre\ninvestment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe BW Digital facility in NDP, for example, has a capacity of up to\n120 megawatts (MW). There is also a Singapore-based company, DayOne,\nwhich is developing a hyperscale data centre with a capacity of 450 MW,\u201d\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, he added, the American technology company Oracle has\nalso chosen Batam as the location for developing a Cloud Region in the\nNongsa Digital Park area.<\/p>\n
\u201cBatam is very quickly emerging as Indonesia\u2019s new gateway. The\nincoming investment shows that this area is increasingly important in\nthe regional digital ecosystem,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
Airlangga said this development is in line with the digital\ntransformation that is one of the priorities of President Prabowo\nSubianto\u2019s administration through the development of digital and\nphysical infrastructure.<\/p>\n
He explained that the world is now entering a new era marked by the\nutilisation of artificial intelligence (AI), thus requiring high-speed\ndigital connectivity and large data centre capacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the AI era, humans and machines, as well as machine-to-machine\ninteractions, require fast digital connections. Therefore, digital\ntransformation must be supported by adequate infrastructure,\u201d he\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He added that Indonesia has great potential in developing the digital\neconomy, with the number of internet users reaching 235.26 million\npeople and approximately 99.5 million broadband subscribers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndonesia is also the fourth largest potential market for artificial\nintelligence in Asia, after China, India, and Japan,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
To support the growth of the digital industry, Airlangga said the\ngovernment is also strengthening energy supply through the development\nof the energy mix.<\/p>\n
\u201cDigital infrastructure requires reliable energy and electricity.\nIndonesia is developing its energy and energy mix to supply these needs,\nsuch as geothermal energy in Sumatra and solar power in Batam,\u201d he\nsaid.<\/p>\n
In addition, Airlangga said the government is targeting an additional\npower generation capacity of up to 100 gigawatts (GW) in the coming\nyears as part of the cooperation agenda between Indonesia and\nSingapore.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/coordinating-minister-airlangga-batam-data-centre-industry-grows-22-percent-annually-1784541482", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }