Jakarta, INTI - Indonesia’s ambition to achieve artificial intelligence (AI) sovereignty faces significant foundational hurdles. While there is a strong push to develop homegrown AI technology, the nation still struggles with inadequate talent readiness, digital infrastructure, data center capacity, and policy support. Speaking at the Indonesia AI Ethics Summit in Jakarta, Reski Damayanti, Director and Chief Legal & Regulatory Officer of Indosat, emphasized that building national AI isn't just about creating apps, but rather about nurturing a comprehensive, supportive ecosystem first.
She noted that Indonesia cannot demand the creation of domestic applications if its human resources are not yet equipped, meaning talent and application development must progress hand in hand.
Bridging the Human Resource and Technology Deficit
According to Reski, the scarcity of skilled human resources remains a primary obstacle. Government intervention is crucial to accelerate ecosystem growth, particularly through policies that incentivize local talent development. She pointed to Singapore as a prime example, where the government actively provides incentives to AI development firms that employ local experts.
Beyond talent, infrastructure readiness remains another critical bottleneck. Reski warned that enforcing domestic data management for AI will be unrealistic if local data centers and supporting networks are insufficient. AI development inherently demands high-computing data centers equipped with Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), which consume massive amounts of power. Consequently, building AI infrastructure is deeply tied to the availability of a stable and sustainable power supply.
Maximizing Green Energy and Infrastructure Potential
Actually, Indonesia possesses great capital to become an AI infrastructure hub, thanks to its vast land and abundant energy potential. However, this potential has yet to materialize into concrete investment and development. Indonesia holds a strategic advantage due to its ample energy resources and green energy potential, which should be leveraged to position the country as a major infrastructure provider in the region.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the current situation highlights the paradox Indonesia faces. On one hand, the government actively promotes digital transformation and AI adoption across sectors. On the other hand, critical shortages in talent, computing power, data centers, and clean energy remain unresolved. Without reinforcing these core areas, the narrative of AI sovereignty risks becoming a mere policy ambition, and Indonesia could remain nothing more than a massive market for global AI tech giants if it fails to build its technological capacity independently.
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