RI to set up national information infrastructure

RI to set up national information infrastructure

JAKARTA (JP): Professionals, academic experts and executives
of private and state-owned companies are expected to cooperate in
establishing a high-tech information infrastructure to improve
competitiveness of Indonesian businesses, an executive says.

The president of the state-owned domestic telecommunications
company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), Setyanto P.
Santosa, told The Jakarta Post here yesterday that the planned
development of the national information infrastructure (NII) will
be vital for accelerating business development in the country.

He said information and telecommunications technologies are
very important to support activities of service and manufacturing
industries.

He said that developed countries, including the United States,
can penetrate the markets of other nations with the support of
their powerful information technology.

"In a speech early last year, U.S. President (Bill) Clinton
mentioned the necessity of an electronics superhighway for the
entire world," he said.

According to Setyanto, Indonesia is quite well-known for its
breakthrough in telecommunications, including its satellite
communications system introduced in 1977, digital
telecommunications network developed in the early 1980s, fiber
optic construction and the global system for mobile
telecommunications network telecommunications.

He said that telecommunications development will always be
lucrative, which will win financial support from banks.(icn)