Deputy Minister Reveals Strategy for Indonesia to Become a Competitive AI 'Player'

Deputy Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs Nezar Patria has revealed the Indonesian government’s strategy to make the nation’s artificial intelligence (AI) innovations competitive on a global level. There are five layers being prepared by the Indonesian government and used as an approach to view the AI ecosystem comprehensively, known as the full stack of AI. “The first layer is energy, then infrastructure, chips, talent, and finally applications,” he said in Yogyakarta on Thursday. The government views each layer as having a strategic role in strengthening Indonesia’s position amidst global AI development. Discussing the current situation amid rapidly advancing AI, Nezar said the most relevant approach from the five layers is through applications. This step is considered the best option, as building an AI model independently would likely require very large investments and a long time. Starting everything from scratch could cause Indonesia’s AI ecosystem development to fall behind the swift pace of global AI development. “We are trying to use existing foundation models, then conduct post-training to create solutions for areas such as health, agriculture, and education,” Nezar said. However, the government does not want the development of national AI innovations to stop at the application approach, as this risks positioning Indonesia merely as a technology user. “We are trying to view this full stack of AI more strategically,” Nezar stated. To strengthen the infrastructure and chip layers, Indonesia will leverage its national resource advantages while opening spaces for strategic collaboration. The Deputy Minister said Indonesia’s wealth of critical minerals is a capital to strengthen its position in the AI ecosystem chain, particularly through downstreaming and the development of value-added industries. “Ultimately, we do not want to just be a user; we want to become a significant player in global AI development,” Nezar concluded.