Let's go digital<\/p>\n
Indonesia's almost dormant Internet industry received a
\nwelcome jolt this week from foreign investors, showing their
\nconfidence in the untapped but potentially lucrative local e-
\nbusiness. Detik.com, a popular local cybernews content provider,
\nturned itself into a portal service site on Wednesday after it
\nsold 20 percent of its equity to a Hong Kong internet company. On
\nthe same day, Astaga.com, a wholly foreign-owned operation, made
\nits debut as an Indonesian portal. Both Detik.com and Astaga.com
\nare vying for the small but undoubtedly growing e-commerce market
\nin Indonesia. On Thursday, Catcha Group of Singapore expanded its
\nIndonesian site, Catcha.co.id, as a content search engine portal,
\nand announced that it is looking for local companies to form
\njoint ventures to expand its e-business operations in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
This is a quiet foreign invasion into an industry about which
\nthe government seems to be completely ignorant. The Internet
\nindustry is not even on the list of economic sectors touted by
\nPresident Abdurrahman Wahid to investors in any of his recent
\nextensive overseas tours. Thankfully, a number of local giant
\ncorporations like Lippo and Astra have already caught on before
\nthe invasion began. Lippo Life switched from insurance business
\nto e-business last month, and renamed itself Lippo-E-Net. Astra
\nGraphia, Multipolar and Metrodata Electronics are other major
\nlocal companies which have announced their entry into e-business,
\nhelping to usher Indonesia into the digital era.<\/p>\n
Following the rapid global development of information
\ntechnology, e-business is the way forward for the Internet
\nindustry. After a period of trial and error processes,
\nenterprising industrialists have finally found a way of turning
\nthe Internet industry into a money making machine. This is led by
\ne-commerce which has turned the Internet into a virtual
\nelectronic marketplace, allowing people to buy and sell, as well
\nas a host of other things. More important than facilitating the
\nway we do our shopping, e-commerce is revolutionizing the way
\npeople run businesses. Since e-commerce enhances globalization,
\nit is bound to make international competition even fiercer than
\nit already is. It is therefore essential for every country to
\nkeep up with this technology if it is to survive globalization.<\/p>\n
Compared to other countries, including many of its neighbors,
\nIndonesia has been slow in jumping onto the e-business bandwagon.
\nA small fraction of the 210 million people in this country have
\naccess to the Internet. The Association of Indonesian Internet
\nService Providers says about 1 million Indonesians are online.
\nThe volume of e-commerce transactions is also minuscule. The
\nInternational Data Corporation of the U.S. puts the number of
\nIndonesians making online purchases at 70,000 this year.<\/p>\n
Yet while it is small, the number of Internet users continues
\nto grow, suggesting that it is not a totally dormant industry.
\nAnd with a population of 210 million people, the future looks
\npromising enough for the likes of Detik.com, Astaga.com and
\nCatcha.com to try their hand in developing the e-commerce
\nindustry in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The initiative for developing Indonesia's e-commerce so far
\nhas come from the private sector, including foreign investors.
\nThe government's role has been almost negligible. As much as we
\nlike to see the private sector taking the lead, government
\nsupport is vital to get e-commerce off the ground. The widely
\ntouted potential will never materialize without strong and
\nconscious support from the government.<\/p>\n
Many of the physical and social infrastructures needed to
\nbuild a solid e-commerce industry are lacking here, or worse
\nstill, they do not exist. Most households in this country are not
\neven connected with telephones. PT Telkom, the government-owned
\nmonopoly for domestic telephone service, has installed 5.94
\nmillion fixed lines throughout the country. Very few people have
\naccess to computers, and even fewer with access to the Internet.<\/p>\n
Because it is an entirely new and still changing business, the
\nlegal framework for the Internet industry is, understandably,
\nalmost non-existent. But laws and regulations are necessary to
\ngive the industry, and e-commerce, a solid legal footing.<\/p>\n
Finally, most Indonesians are still computer illiterate, and
\nfor such a life-death matter to the nation's future, computer
\nscience is not included among the compulsory subjects in the
\nnational school curriculum.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's entry into the digital era has been slowed by the
\neconomic crisis and the political upheavals of the last three
\nyears. But with the international business environment
\ndrastically changed by the arrival of e-commerce, Indonesia
\ncannot afford to remain aloof and hope to survive the global
\ncompetition without making some effort. The invasion of foreign
\nInternet companies on our shores this week, if anything, should
\nbe seen as a wake-up call for the country to rise to the
\nchallenge of the digital era.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/lets-go-digital-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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