Yogya dreams of becoming cyber city
Yogya dreams of becoming cyber city
Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
In an attempt to accelerate the development of Yogyakarta into a
cyber province, Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X said on
Tuesday he would soon draft a gubernatorial decree on electronic
information and transactions.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a seminar titled
Jogja Towards Cybercity: Opportunities and Challenges, the
governor said he had asked Yogyakarta-based multimedia expert Roy
Suryo to prepare the draft decree, which was almost ready to be
issued.
"For me, the sooner Yogyakarta has the regulation, the better.
It is fortunate because Pak Suryo also happens to be a member of
the drafting team of the bill on electronic information and
transactions that is to be deliberated by the House of
Representatives," the sultan said.
Yogyakarta has just secured a US$ 20 million investment from
Exelcom, a cellular telecommunications provider, in the form of a
fiber optic network.
However, the governor said there was not yet any regulation on
the use of cyber technology. "Nationwise, the bill is still at
the preparation stage, also."
"Now, as the province has decided to become a cyber province,
it would be better to have the regulation, although it is just a
gubernatorial decree. Otherwise, (cyber businesses) will just
kill each other due to the lack of clear regulation, he said.
Meanwhile, Roy Suryo said the decree would basically regulate
and provide protection for business transactions using electronic
communication, including e-mails and text messages.
In the long run, it would give electronic transactions a legal
basis so that if a dispute arose, such transactions could be
admitted as evidence in a court of law, Roy explained.
Roy also considered that the issuance of a gubernatorial
decree on electronic information and transactions was urgent for
the province, especially given the fact that Yogyakarta is
recorded as the province with the highest number of cyber crimes
in the country.
Of the 159 cyber crime cases reported in 2002, 63 of them were
reported in Yogyakarta. Internationally too, Indonesia is
recorded as the country with the second highest number of cyber
crimes after the Ukraine, Roy said.
Such crimes have been committed, according to Roy, mostly due
to the lack of clear regulations regarding the matter.
The fact that the results of the recent Gadjah Mada University
entrance examination could be accessed via text messages and
websites was further proof that clear regulations on electronic
information and transactions were an urgent need for the
province, he said.
"And once the decree is issued, Yogyakarta will be the
country's first province to have such a regulation," Roy said.