Govt to launch teecommunications project

JAKARTA (JP): The government will officially launch Telematika Indonesia, an ambitious telecommunications project to prepare the country for entry to the information technology era, in January next year.

Director General of Post and Telecommunications Djakaria Purawidjaja said here yesterday the project consisted of an integrated program to develop the country's telecommunications infrastructure, its application and human resources.

He said that Telematika Indonesia was based on the Nusantara 21 superhighway information project developed by the Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications.

"Nusantara 21 is a concept and vision for the country's telecommunications sector in the 21st century set by the Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications. The vision has been enriched and sharpened by other sectors based on Presidential Decree No. 30/1997 as Telematika Indonesia," he said after opening a meeting of the Indonesian Telecommunications Society held at PT Indosat here yesterday.

He said that a series of action plans would be completed by Dec. 19.

"On Jan. 15, Telematika will be revealed, just wait and see. We have prepared a very thick manuscript," he said, adding that Telematika was now a multi-sector project and more detailed.

He refused to give further information.

Nusantara 21 is Indonesia's mega telecommunications plan to enter the information technology era. The project is designed to connect the whole archipelago to the information superhighway through multimedia networks.

The project, which will involve both private and government participation, is defined as the integration of telecommunications and computing hardware and software having the main components of telecommunications, the computer industry and television broadcasting, as well as the media industry.

To enhance the project, a team comprising 14 cabinet ministers has been formed to help usher Indonesia into the information superhighway era. The team, headed by Coordinating Minister for Production and Distribution Hartarto, aims to find synergy between the information and telecommunications sectors, or what the decree terms Telematika after the Indonesian words Telekomunikasi and Informatika.

The team will also handle Nusantara 21 to develop the nation's infrastructure in telecommunications, multimedia and information technology. (icn)