Jakarta, INTI - Indonesia's digital transformation continues to show progress, marked by the increasing equality of digital infrastructure and economic activity across various regions. This is reflected in the East Ventures – Digital Competitiveness Index (EV-DCI) 2026 report, presented by East Ventures in collaboration with Katadata Insight Center.
The report shows that 37 of the 38 provinces recorded an increase in their digital competitiveness scores, while 47 of the 50 indicators comprising the index also improved.
The median EV-DCI score rose from 38.8 in 2025 to 42.2 in 2026, reflecting increasingly equitable digital transformation across regions. Since the EV-DCI was first introduced in 2020, the average provincial digital competitiveness score has increased by more than 50%.
However, behind these achievements, the quality of digital talent has not yet developed as rapidly as the pace of digital transformation.
Regional Gap Remains
Regional disparities remain a challenge. The EV-DCI recorded a score difference of nearly 60 points between provinces with the highest and lowest digital competitiveness. This means that more advanced regions are still growing faster, leaving behind other regions. Despite improvements in almost all digital indicators, the human resources aspect is the only component to decline in the EV-DCI 2026, falling by 2.5 points.
The assessment includes indicators such as the number of students, lecturers, digital study programs, and the digital literacy index. This situation indicates that access to technology is growing faster than the people’s ability to utilize it productively.
The need for digital talent is increasingly pressing in line with the rapid adoption of technology in Indonesia. With the number of internet users reaching 229.4 million, internet use for economic activities has also increased significantly.
The use of social media as a sales tool by businesses also recorded a 20.7-point increase, in line with the 7.9% growth in the financial services sector, reflecting deepening digital financial inclusion.
In the era of artificial intelligence (AI), the need for digital talent is increasingly pressing. Indonesia is now among the ten countries with the largest number of generative AI users in the world. However, research and development spending remains around 0.3% of GDP, far below that of AI-leading countries.
In fact, AI has the potential to increase Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) by up to 12 percent, or approximately USD 366 billion, if supported by human resources capable of developing and utilizing the technology.
Equal Access to Information Must be Done
CEO of MySkill, Angga Fauzan, believes that the main issue lies not only in technological mastery, but also in equitable access to information and the ability to simplify technological developments to make them more easily understood by the general public.
"One of the challenges is the uneven distribution of information about the latest technology. Furthermore, translating constantly changing technology into easily understood and practical information for the public remains a major challenge," explained Angga.
Angga added that the skills gap between formal education graduates and industry needs is also influenced by the slow adaptation of curricula to changes in the workplace.
Meanwhile, Melisa Irene, Partner at East Ventures, said that Indonesia has shown significant progress in building a digital foundation. However, the challenge of developing talent requires collaboration between the government, education, and industry.
"Closer collaboration between the government, education, and industry is needed to accelerate upskilling and reskilling, strengthen AI competencies, and prepare human resources relevant to future needs. With competitive talent, Indonesia can not only become a market for digital technology but also generate innovations that can compete globally," said Melisa.
Conclusion
Indonesia's digital transformation continues to progress with increasingly equitable digital infrastructure and economic activity, but improvements in the quality of digital talent remain lagging. The EV-DCI 2026 report noted that 37 of 38 provinces experienced increased digital competitiveness. Despite improvements in nearly all other indicators, the human resource aspect declined by 2.5 points, indicating that growth in technology access has not been matched by the public's ability to utilize it productively. The need for talent is increasingly pressing with the rise in internet and AI usage. Therefore, the government, education, and industry are deemed necessary to strengthen collaboration.
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