'Info infrastructure vital for competition'

'Info infrastructure vital for competition'

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia needs to build a national information
infrastructure (NII) to help maintain high economic growth and to
improve competitiveness on the global market, an expert said.

Building NIIs has become a worldwide trend that Indonesia
should follow, said Setyanto P. Santosa, former president of
state-owned telecommunication firm PT Telkom at a seminar in
Jakarta on Friday.

"A number of countries have started developing NII because it
is seen as the strategic medium for maintaining and improving
competitiveness into the 21st century," Setyanto said.

Existing NIIs from these countries have been interconnected to
form a global information infrastructure -- a network of networks
-- which improves the flow of information across countries, he
added.

NII programs begin with the development of an Integrated
Services Digital Network (ISDN), and a wide band network. These
networks are connected to all government institutions,
universities, private firms, and other organizations, which feed
information in the network.

Information should be accessible to all parties through the
internal network which is then connected to the global
information network, the Internet, he said.

ISDN evolved from a "telephony integrated digital network"
into a network that provides end-to-end digital connectivity. The
network supports a wide range of services which users can access
through a limited set of standard multi-purpose user network
interfaces.

Indonesia's ISDN, known locally as Pasopati, was launched last
year with state-owned telecommunication firms PT Indosat and PT
Telkom as sponsors.

A wide band network, which uses fiber optic and enables large
amounts of information to be transferred at the lowest possible
cost, has not yet been introduced in Indonesia.

Setyanto, currently secretary-general of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
said the development of Indonesia's NII needed support from all
parties, including the government, the private sector,
universities and the public.

"The government must provide a healthy environment to attract
the private sector, state-owned firms and people in general to
participate in the development of Indonesia's NII," Setyanto
said.

He suggested the government soon provide the public with a
transparent framework policy, master plan and proposed budget for
the development of the NII.

The government could initially use foreign loans to build the
network. The people and the private sector, who benefit from the
network, can be targeted to help finance its further development,
Setyanto suggested.

"The funds needed to build Indonesia's NII could be realized
from foreign loans, the private sector and the public. It will
work as long as the master plan is clear and transparent," he
said.

The government should encourage the establishment of public
databases which could be accessed through the NII.

Public databases should be prepared in individual nodes of the
NII to reduce the future cost of supply, development and
maintenance.

"For this purpose, we must establish now a basic standard that
is easy to access," Setyanto noted.

Governance

Indonesia's NII will create new jobs, propel economic growth,
increase the efficiency of public services, expand education and
health services, and so on, he said.

"Government services supported by the NII, will gradually
become more efficient, effective and responsive to demand,"
Setyanto said.

In the education sector, the NII will provide educators and
students alike with unprecedented access to information centers,
such as libraries and museums. Tourism will be promoted via the
internet, and in the domestic economic sector, the NII will help
the country run the economy more efficiently as electronic
commerce can significantly reduce transaction costs.

The NII is expected to boost the country's exports by
providing information on products needed on the foreign market.

International transaction costs can be reduced by up to 35
percent, with electronic data interchange by customs offices.

Electronic data interchange is one feature of the NII
currently being considered by Indonesia's Directorate General of
Customs and Excise. Malaysian and Singapore customs offices are
already using electronic data interchange systems. (rid)