New national AI policy . . .
Indonesia launched its much-anticipated National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence – Stranas KA in Bahasa – last week during celebrations of the country’s National Technology Awakening Day. Under the purview of the National Research and Innovation Agency (part of the Ministry of Research and Technology), the new strategy will guide Southeast Asia’s most populous country in developing and adopting AI technologies until 2045. The policy program supports five national priorities the government believes will benefit from AI adoption: health services, bureaucratic reform, education and research, food security, and smart cities.
Advantages and hurdles . . .
Stranas KA is poised to take advantage of Indonesia’s rapid development and youthful demographic. Factors working in Indonesia’s favour as it brings the strategy online are its thriving start-up sector with world-famous unicorns like Gojek, its rapidly growing internet penetration rate (more than 64 per cent), and the relatively high adoption rates of technology by the private sector, including large enterprises. While Stranas KA provides a foundation for AI development and unifies multiple ongoing technology-related projects under one national program, it still needs to tackle issues around the quality of internet connectivity – especially in rural and eastern regions – and data protection.
Ambition and hope for the future . . .
Indonesia joins the ranks of countries worldwide with national AI strategies like Singapore, South Korea, and Canada. While economic development is often the key goal among many countries’ AI strategies, Indonesia’s plan stands out for leveraging AI to address specific problem areas. For instance, Indonesia aims to use AI to help tackle its struggles with poor nutrition among infants and to implement government services digitally. Malaysia and Thailand currently lack national AI strategies, but have already implemented a variety of programs applying AI, including e-government services. AI will be a key area for Canada to engage with Southeast Asia’s largest economy, especially as both tackle COVID-19’s economic impact in an increasingly digital world.
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