IKN Smart City Project Receives USD 2.49 Million Grant from Independent US Government Agency
Around USD 2.49 million (approximately IDR 39.84 billion) in grant funding is strengthening the smart city project of the Nusantara Capital (IKN) in parts of North Penajam Paser Regency and Kutai Kartanegara Regency, East Kalimantan Province. The IKN Authority has entered into a cooperation agreement with the US Government regarding technical assistance for smart city solutions to strengthen the planning and blueprint of IKN’s smart city development.
“Digital transformation is the foundational basis for developing Indonesia’s new capital city,” said IKN Authority Head Basuki Hadimuljono in North Penajam Paser on Friday.
The smart city planning for Indonesia’s new capital, which is integrated, investment-ready, and implementation-focused to accelerate IKN’s transformation as a smart, sustainable city that attracts global investors, is valued at USD 2.49 million.
The project funding comes from a grant by the independent US Government agency, the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), to encourage economic development in developing countries whilst strengthening trade and investment partnerships. The grant support from the US Government represents international confidence in developing IKN as a technology-based and sustainable city of the future.
The IKN Authority is ensuring that Indonesia’s new capital is not only constructed physically, but also designed with a mature, secure, and future-oriented digital system through the USTDA grant and cross-sector collaboration. “IKN must become a green, sustainable city that is fundamentally smart,” said Basuki Hadimuljono.
The activity involves a consortium led by Eficens Systems Inc as technical implementer, alongside Frost & Sullivan (USA and Indonesia), ASECH Indonesia Center of Excellence on Smart City, Mirekel, and PT Searce Technologies Indonesia (Google Cloud Platform Partner).
Technical assistance is being provided to prepare documentation for a number of strategic and technical components designed to ensure the implementation of IKN’s smart city operates in a structured, transparent manner, and aligns with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles.
According to Subhranshu Sekhar, Frost & Sullivan Board Member for America and project director, IKN has an opportunity to evolve beyond a smart city into a cognitive city.
As global knowledge industry transformation accelerates, cities must transition from static digital infrastructure towards adaptive intelligence systems, and Indonesia’s new capital has the potential to become a reference model for a global urban paradigm based on intelligence.
“The resulting blueprint is expected to serve as the foundation for concrete smart city implementation whilst serving as a pilot model for smart city development in Indonesia and globally,” said Subhranshu Sekhar.