Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology Stella shares tips to address AI utilisation disparities
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Wamendiktisaintek) Stella Christie is promoting the development of appropriate knowledge, investment, and infrastructure as a strategy to address disparities in the utilisation of artificial intelligence (AI).
In a statement in Jakarta on Thursday, Stella explained that mastery of AI is currently dominated by advanced countries, both in terms of knowledge, investment, and infrastructure. Understanding the causes of these disparities is considered important to catch up in the field of AI technology development.
“We must look at the reality based on data. Hone the right and specialised capabilities, invest in things that support the answers to what Indonesia needs, and build domestic infrastructure after having the required resources,” she said.
The Deputy Minister explained that the first disparity lies in the knowledge aspect, where the production of patents and scientific publications in the AI field is still dominated by advanced countries.
Therefore, she believes Indonesia needs to determine specialisation fields that become national strengths, such as seaweed research where Indonesia is the world’s largest seaweed producer. Stella emphasised that specialisations like this need to be intensified in their development.
On the infrastructure aspect, Deputy Minister Stella highlighted the importance of self-reliance in data management as one of Indonesia’s main assets. She said AI consists of data, algorithms, and processing power.
According to her, Indonesia has great potential in terms of data availability, which can become a strategic asset for AI development if the public has awareness to manage data well and securely domestically.
Deputy Minister Stella also reminded that building infrastructure such as data centres must consider the readiness of stable, affordable, and sustainable energy, and be designed not to burden the public’s energy needs.
She also stressed the importance of collaboration between the government, industry, and private sector through a consortium approach and research partnerships.
The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Kemdiktisaintek), according to Stella, has encouraged the transformation of research financing policies that no longer rely solely on the government, but also involve the industrial sector in addressing real national development needs.
“AI must be used for development, not the other way around. With the right strategy in education, investment, and infrastructure, we can reduce disparities and increase the nation’s competitiveness,” she said.