Jakarta, INTI - RMIT University Australia and BINUS University are promoting the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to support more transparent and sustainable public procurement practices in Indonesia.
Director of RMIT Indonesia, Tantia Dian Permata Indah, said procurement should be positioned as a strategic instrument to support Indonesia’s sustainability transition, particularly as government spending exceeds Rp1,000 trillion.
“Sustainability becomes tangible through everyday decisions: what organisations purchase, who they work with, what standards vendors are required to meet, and how their performance is measured,” she said.
RMIT aims to help Indonesian institutions use data and AI responsibly to make procurement decision-making more transparent and sustainable.
AI for Procurement Data Analysis
AI can help accelerate the evaluation and analysis of sustainability data, although its implementation still requires human oversight to ensure that assessment results remain accountable.
Based on aggregated data from the Government Goods and Services Procurement Policy Agency (LKPP), the total planned procurement expenditure of ministries, government agencies, and regional governments in 2025 reached approximately Rp1.1936 quadrillion.
The scale of this spending means decisions regarding goods and services, vendor selection, and procurement standards could have broad impacts on the economy, society, and the environment.
Changes in procurement practices could also affect more than 64 million micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia, which contribute more than 60 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and employ nearly 97 percent of the workforce.
RMIT and BINUS Develop AI-Based Assessment
One of the instruments being developed is the Sustainable Procurement Disclosure Index (SPDI), which measures the extent to which companies disclose their sustainable procurement practices.
The SPDI framework uses a number of indicators based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reporting standards.
BINUS is one of RMIT’s partners in expanding the application of the index across the Asia-Pacific region, including through assessments of companies in Indonesia.
In 2026, the collaboration produced a dataset comparing human and AI assessments of sustainable procurement practices across 99 companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange.
The assessment used 33 SPDI indicators covering governance, stakeholder engagement, environmental, social, and economic aspects.
Chair of the BINUS Center of Excellence in Sustainability, Yanthi Rumbina Ianova Hutagaol, said the collaboration is important to ensure that global sustainability frameworks can be applied in accordance with Indonesia’s local context.
“By combining RMIT’s international research and expertise with BINUS’ understanding of regulations, businesses, and Indonesia’s vendor ecosystem, this collaboration can help organisations move from ESG commitments toward tangible and measurable procurement practices,” she said.
Conclusion
The collaboration between RMIT University Australia and BINUS University highlights the potential of AI and data-driven approaches to make procurement practices in Indonesia more transparent, accountable, and sustainable. Through the development and application of the SPDI framework, the initiative seeks to bridge global sustainability standards with Indonesia’s local business and regulatory context, helping organisations turn ESG commitments into measurable procurement practices.
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