Indonesia Needs ICT Investment To Achieve A Strong Economy In 2045

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Management consulting firm Kearney said Indonesia needs significant investment in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector to improve the quality of public services and achieve the goal of becoming a country with a strong economy by 2045.

"To achieve its vision of becoming the fifth to seventh strongest economy in the world by 2045, the government needs significant ICT investment to accelerate One Data Indonesia's platform and digital transformation of more public services," said Kearney Indonesia Partner Tomoo Sato as quoted by Antara, Thursday, August 25.

Tomoo said a significant investment in the ICT sector can improve the quality of government public and digital services to become more efficient, transparent and accessible, so that the dream of becoming a country with a strong economy will be achieved.

He said Indonesia's investment in ICT is far lower than the average investment of benchmark countries that have succeeded in transforming their government sector, which is 0.5 percent of GDP.

It is noted that the Indonesian government's expenditure on ICT is only Rp. 21 trillion in 2020 and is estimated to be only Rp. 46 trillion in 2030, equivalent to 0.13 percent of GDP.

On the same occasion, Kearney Indonesia Consultant Alvin Suadarna said the government could use funding options to finance the development of a centralized cloud infrastructure, create a strong digital ecosystem, and help enable data sharing between ministries.

“Innovative approaches such as partnering with private companies will be one way to support the development of IT infrastructure. Indonesia can also initiate cooperation with international organizations that have a common goal to improve national welfare," said Alvin.

According to him, setting up a dedicated e-government committee is essential to secure significant ICT funding, facilitate cross-ministerial collaboration, and ensure e-government services can be enforced.

Then, the establishment of an e-government unit with cross-ministerial representatives is also important to manage every government affair.

He gave an example, South Korea which has created a Digital Government Bureau under the Ministry of Home Affairs and Security to manage the sharing of public data, while ensuring the design and delivery of digital services.

Then, there is Singapore which created two special institutions to manage digital government, namely Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO) for planning and coordination, and GovTech for e-government implementation.