Industry Minister Targets Dedicated Clusters for Data Centres

Jakarta (ANTARA) — Industry Minister Muhammad Sarmuji is targeting the development of dedicated clusters for data centres in industrial estates to meet their electricity and water needs, while preventing competition for resources with residential areas.

“Data centres should really be placed in a somewhat specialised location. Ideally, they should be in a cluster, because they require substantial supporting infrastructure, especially electricity and water,” Sarmuji said after a meeting with the Indonesian Industrial Estates Association (HKI) in Jakarta on Thursday.

He stressed the importance of anticipating potential conflicts over water use between data centres and residential areas.

“We must not let data centres compete for water with housing or residential areas, as that could lead to conflict. They therefore need a dedicated location, perhaps closer to the coast so the water can come from seawater desalination and so on. These issues need to be considered,” he said.

He said the government and stakeholders would identify the various requirements and obstacles that need to be addressed to increase the use of industrial estates.

The Ministry of Industry is also encouraging the development of themed industrial estates outside Java, based on the strengths of each region. These estates are expected to be integrated from upstream to downstream, including their supporting ecosystems.

“We hope data centres will be included in industrial estates so they can be monitored more easily, and because water and electricity issues can also be managed within them,” Ma’ruf said.