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The Palapa Ring Connects Indonesia to the World and to Each Other

Palapa Ring Indonesia

The recent launch of the Palapa Ring’s eastern package completes the overall IDR 21.63 trillion (US$ 1.5 billion) broadband infrastructure development project across the Indonesian archipelago, with coverage up to the outermost parts of the country.

As reported, the Palapa Ring Indonesia is expected to answer several issues in order for Indonesia’s success in the digital economy and Industry 4.0 be felt in major cities as well as in westernmost Sabang, easternmost Merauke, northernmost Miangas and southernmost Rote, and thoroughly across the archipelago.

The Problem

As Indonesia inches closer to becoming Southeast Asia’s largest digital economy with a market value tripling to US $130 billion by 2025 from the current value, growth is still centred on urban cities with burgeoning demand for e-commerce products and ride-hailing services.

In remote areas, and sometimes not so remote, the internet connection remains patchy and even non-existent.

This has caused a digital divide that has become a new source of inequality in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.

In 2018, around 65% of the country’s 264 million people were connected to the Internet, which is among the lowest penetration rates in Southeast Asia.

While people have been connected, the internet speed in Indonesia, which is at 200 megabits per second (Mbps), discourages users from exploring online.

The Solution

Studies have shown how an increase in broadband take-up can result in higher gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

A universal, fast and reliable internet connection will lay the foundation for the overall productivity of the economy through more connected market participants.

Beyond the economic angle, the world now regards access to the internet as a basic human right.

Having an internet provides basic knowledge on social issues such as health and education and is necessary to advance research and innovation.

Aside from providing hard infrastructure, the Indonesian government should follow through with digital literacy programs.

This is critical as greater internet connectivity post higher risk of misuse, particularly through hoax news and misinformation.

Balancing freedom of speech and the nation’s security should be high on the government’s agenda following the broadband rollout, so as to avoid blocking the internet to prevent negative content.

A Streamlined and Simplified Process

In other news, six Indonesian governmental bodies have launched an application for oil and gas companies so that they can apply for duty exemptions on imported exploration equipment.

The app is called the Single Submission Fiscal Facility on Importing Items for Upstream Oil and Gas Activities.

The Finance Ministry explained that the purpose of the app was to streamline and simplify the application process for the Finance Ministry Exemption Letter (SKEP).

Most importantly, the app will slash the approval waiting time from 42 working days to only 15 working days, thereby reducing the waiting time by 50%.

The Finance Ministry issued the tax exemptions through regulations No. 177/2007, No. 178/2007 and No. 179/2007 to incentivise oil and gas exploration in the country.

The prior regulation exempted exploration equipment from import duties on the condition that the equipment was neither produced in Indonesia nor produced in sufficient quantities.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

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CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

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HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

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IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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