Indonesian and UK cooperation in the technology, digital, and start-up sectors has grown rapidly since the launch of the Indonesia-UK Tech Hub. The Tech Hub collaborates with many agencies like governments, professional associations, education institutions, digital communities, investors and is looking to involve a wider range of groups and communities. The platform also supports the growth of Indonesia’s digital ecosystem and develops initiatives to support women and marginalized groups in increasing their digital literacy so that they can participate in this growing sector, said the Ambassador of the UK.
As reported by OpenGov Asia, the information technology sector in Indonesia is poised to be one of the main pillars of the government as it continues to build on existing digital ventures and expected to amplify the nation’s digital transformation strategy.
As a country with the biggest economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia will benefit a lot from technology to achieve inclusion and better access for women and underrepresented groups, raise SMEs and scale-up the digital start-up ecosystem. The announcement made in Indonesia confirms that the two countries are cooperating in the digital start-up sector, with a specific focus that looks at tackling climate change and cybercrime and promotes inclusiveness.
The British Embassy, on its part, will hold a series of webinars that will also introduce the “UKode Hackathon 2021”. Through the hackathon, the UK-Indonesia Tech Hub encourages creative new technological solutions for climate change. The event is the first activity in their line-up that invites innovative talent to address problems and challenges of climate change through digital discovery and solutions.
Britain will also host the Climate Change Conference and is also committed to encouraging all countries, including Indonesia, to be more ambitious in dealing with climate change. The embassy acknowledged that China, Japan and South Korea, recently announced Net Zero targets, giving a clear signal to investors and businesses that the future is low carbon – making their countries more attractive to business people who want to invest in economic sectors in the future, such as renewable energy and electric vehicles.
The governments believe that Indonesia’s technology sector getting involved in climate change will open the door to new funding opportunities. The one-year celebration of the UK-Indonesia Tech Hub would go a long way to support the growth of the digital ecosystem in Indonesia. Currently, investors are not only focusing on green economy businesses, but also on those that have a social and environmental impact as a whole or impact investment. This includes start-ups engaged in the green economy, renewable energy, education and more.
Additionally, the UK is eager to see more Indonesian talent participating and joining the UKode Hackathon 2021 competition so that they can push their creative boundaries and create digital solutions that can help the global community – and support Indonesia’s economy to advance to the world level.
Apart from climate change issues and the rise of tech start-ups, the two countries also highlighted the problem of cybercrime in the country. As also previously reported by OpenGov Asia, Indonesia is the second most targeted country for cyber-attacks and the third most vulnerable country to malware. The country is reported to be a victim of 36.6 million cyber-attacks in recent years. These attacks are targeted at both the public and private sectors.
For Indonesia, effective cybersecurity strategies and tactics are needed and they already form an integral part of the country’s digital transformation planning. In this context, the Indonesian government created the National Cyber Security Agency (BCN) to address these problems. The agency continuously looks to strengthen its defences against cyber threats and attackers. It will also work to increase public awareness about the cybersecurity landscape.
To better take advantage of the era of the Industrial Revolution 4.0, the community must be able to understand the dynamics that will arise and prepare themselves for the changes that will occur in the future. Both individuals and organisations have been urged to stress cybersecurity awareness and embed it into their DNA.
