A popular e-commerce platform, in collaboration with an Indonesian University, launched the country’s inaugural artificial intelligence (AI) research centre.
According to a recent report, Bukalapak is working with the Bandung Institute of Technology with the goal of spearheading AI engineering in the country.
The announcement was made by the company founder while speaking about the future of Indonesian technology during the IDEAFEST 2018 event.
It is the difficulty in finding AI technical talent in Indonesia which prompted the company to establish the country’s first AI research centre.
The lack of AI production in Indonesia stems from the limited number of experts available since they choose to start a career in an international technology company.
This research centre will make it possible for local talents to develop the AI capacity domestically, instead of elsewhere.
Hopefully, more AI technicians and scientists will eventually become talents for new and emerging start-ups. To which, the Communications and Informatics Minister agreed.
In large-scale attempt to attract software engineers from across the nation, the company has committed to establishing research centres in numerous Indonesian regions.
The planned regions for expansion include Medan, Yogyakarta, and Surabaya.
The Minister explained how the government is developing young talents in the digital industry, such as AI, cloud computing and robotics, by providing programs.
The government is partnering with world-renowned tech companies in order to achieve this.
As reported, the AI research centre will later train high school students, vocational students and university students.
The company partnered with the University because of its software engineering program, which the founder believes was the best in Indonesia.
Both will be contributing to the project. The company will be donating its data while the University will be sharing its knowledge to further the research.
There is no reason for worry as the data that the company will share is only model data. Actual data and user identity will remain to be protected.
With the collective hard work that everyone is putting into preparing Indonesia for Industrial Revolution 4.0, investors are categorising Indonesia as a potential market.
Its domestic ecosystem enables the birth of numerous tech companies that are worth billions of dollars.
The country is currently home to four tech companies that are valued above US$ 1 billion. The four companies, categorised as unicorns, are Go-Jek, Traveloka, Tokopedia, and Bukalapak.
The Minister has predicted that the future unicorn company will come from the finance, education or healthcare technology industry.
