Indef Is Not Sure The Algorithm Hill Aka Silicon Valley Indonesia Will Be Completed

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Researcher at the Center of Innovation and Digital Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) Hanif Muhammad said the Algorithm Hill project in Sukabumi, West Java, which is predicted to be Indonesia's Silicon Valley, must have a clear concept of development.

Furthermore, Hanif said that this project requires a large budget. If he does not have a clear concept, he is worried that his budget will swell.

"Projects like this need clear steps, (don't be) a gimmick. So that they can increase the budget," he said in a virtual discussion, Thursday, April 15.

Hanif asked the government or related parties not to repeat the incidents of building projects that were deemed a failure, such as the Science Techno Park in 2015.

In addition, Hanif said there were still a lot of homework to do in building a digital ecosystem, before building an area that integrated the research and technology industry 4.0.

Hanif said, the digital ecosystem requires triple helix collaboration, namely collaboration between government, industry and educational institutions.

"Meanwhile, what we have heard that the prime mover is the pure private sector, which they say does not involve the APBN budget. Can this be done?" he said.

On the same occasion, Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) Economist Nailul Huda also questioned the Algorithm Hill development plan. Huda admitted that he was pessimistic that the project would be completed due to the low level of research and development ecosystem in Indonesia.

Based on Unesco 2021 data, said Huda, the proportion of R&D funds to GDP in total is still around 0.24 percent. This figure is still far behind Singapore's 2.22 percent.

There are very few high-tech products from Indonesia. Based on data from the World Bank, exports of manufactured products in Indonesia have tended to decline in trend when measuring since 2011. In fact, Indonesia's innovation is in the fourth worst ranking in ASEAN. Indonesia's ICOR is also at 6.7.

"I still have doubts because until now the proportion of R&D funds to GDP generated by the private sector is still below, far from Singapore and Korea. The fundamental problem must be fixed first because this has the potential for the Algorithm Hill to stall," he said.

Previously, the Governor of West Java, Ridwan Kamil, reminded that the project was not just a gimmick. According to him, the Silicon Valley area in the Santa Clara Valley which is in the southern part of the Bay Area, San Francisco, can develop well because it has three main supporting factors.

The three factors are the gathering of universities in which there are researchers, then supporting industries that support innovation, and there are financial institutions.

Therefore, said Ridwan, parties wishing to realize the project must carefully consider the three main components. In idea, he supports the existence of a research center in Indonesia. Ridwan also asked developers or people involved in the construction to be careful in using the term Silicon Valley.

For your information, in Indonesia itself, a duplicate of Silicon Valley has indeed surfaced. Some of the locations that had been predicted to become Indonesia's Silicon Valley include Malang, Yogyakarta, BSD Serpong, and Batam.

Most recently, the Sukabumi Algorithm Hill appeared, which was developed by a state-owned construction company, PT Amarta Karya (Persero). This Indonesian-style Silicon Valley development is estimated to cost up to 1 billion euros, or the equivalent of IDR 18 trillion.

"This area will be one of the centers for the development of advanced innovation and technology, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, drones, to solar panels for clean and environmentally friendly energy," said the President Director of PT Amarta Karya (Persero). , Nikolas the Great.

888 hectares of land in Cikidang and Cibadak, Sukabumi were chosen as the location for Algorithm Hill. The initial development stage is estimated to take three years.

Algorithm Hill is expected to become a center for research and technology development, as well as a center for human resource development in the future. In particular the development of technology and industry 4.0.