IKN Receives US$2.49 Million Grant from United States, Here is Basuki's Response
Jakarta—Indonesia’s new capital city Nusantara (IKN) has received a grant of US$2.49 million (approximately Rp41.9 billion at the exchange rate of Rp16,825 per US dollar) from the United States. The funds will be used to strengthen Smart City planning in Indonesia’s new capital.
The grant is channelled through the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and was formalised through a cooperation agreement signed between the IKN Authority and the US Government on Wednesday 25 February 2026 at the IKN Authority office.
IKN Authority Chief Basuki Hadimuljono welcomed the support and reaffirmed that digital transformation is the foundation of Nusantara’s development.
“Our vision is clear: Nusantara must become a green, sustainable, and fundamentally intelligent city,” said Basuki according to the official IKN website on Saturday 28 February 2026.
He explained that technical assistance from this grant will be used to develop various strategic documents, including Smart City Enterprise Architecture, investment-ready procurement packages, financing and investment models, and an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) framework.
Additionally, a capacity-building roadmap and implementation roadmap will be developed to ensure the structured and transparent development of IKN’s Smart City initiative.
The USTDA is an independent US government agency aimed at promoting economic development in developing countries whilst strengthening trade and investment relationships. This support is seen as reflecting international confidence in IKN’s vision as a technology-driven and sustainable city of the future.
The project involves a consortium led by Eficens Systems Inc as the technical implementer. Several other partners are involved, including Frost & Sullivan (United States and Indonesia), ASECH Indonesia, Mirekel, and PT Searce Technologies Indonesia, which is a Google Cloud Platform partner.
Subhranshu Sekhar Das, a Frost & Sullivan America Board Member and Project Director of this initiative, stated that Nusantara has the potential to become more than just a smart city. According to him, IKN can evolve into a “Cognitive City”—a city with an adaptive intelligence system capable of learning and optimising governance, infrastructure, and public services through the use of technologies such as agentic AI and federated knowledge platforms.
“Nusantara has the opportunity to become more than just a smart city; Nusantara can evolve into a Cognitive City,” he said.
On the same day, an inaugural project meeting was held, attended by USTDA’s Senior Representative for Indonesia, Yolanda Hanna, and consortium members. Through this grant, the IKN Authority has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that Nusantara is not only built physically but also designed with a mature and investment-ready digital system. The blueprint to be developed is expected to serve as a model for smart city development both in Indonesia and globally.