Changing Indonesia with Technology

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new, said Socrates, the great Greek philosopher.

That is exactly what Indonesia is doing, becoming the largest spender on Information Technology  (IT) in Southeast Asia, while being ranked 19th among global spenders on IT. Furthermore, Indonesia is the fourth most populous country (next to China, India and the US) with a population of about 260 million individuals. It also has a relatively youthful population, with at least 50% of the people being under 30 years. The United Nations (UN) earlier projected that Indonesia’s  population would be over 270 million by 2025,be over 285 million by 2035 and be over 290 million by 2045. The UN also projected that by 2050, two thirds of Indonesia’s population will live in urban areas.

Urban populations, by nature, are more sophisticated and tech-driven. The Indonesian capital of Jakarta has one of the highest number of social media users in the world. In fact, 2.4% of the world’s Twitter posts come from Jakarta. Therefore technology is a vital component of Indonesia’s future growth.

Here are five reasons why technology is important in Indonesia –

(1) Indonesia is a stable country with consistent economic growth of 5-6% over the past two decades, with rising demand for mobile commerce. This has led to global, big name corporates eyeing investment in Indonesia’s tech industry. Therefore Indonesia’s mobile markets are able to reach out to millions of Indonesians seeking greater choices and speedier information. This will also be a boon for the spread of mobile commerce.

(2) Cultural diversity requires tech infrastructure for growth into the next decade.

Indonesia comprises 10,000 islands, with diversity in language and culture. However, tech infrastructure  will override the differences of diversity and smoothen the path for outreach to these different communities.

(3) Indonesia is a mobile-first market, with 93% of people accessing Internet through their smartphones. With a significant composition of earnest mobile shoppers who are also zealous mobile gamers, the Indonesian market is ripe for the concept of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services. SEO is the process of directing traffic to strategic web sites or webpages in “free,” search results on search engines. SEO services in Australia and other countries seek to provide visibility to specific websites and their content on different internet searches that people do, ensuring that the targeted sites or pages are significantly apparent at the top of search lists. This ability to achieve premium positioning and enhance visibility is something tech companies have expertise in.

(4) Indonesia has a consumer-based economy, with a rapidly expanding middle class which stands at around 88 million, and expects to spiral to 141 million by 2020. These consumers would benefit greatly from a thriving tech industry as would the corporates selling IT services.

(5) Indonesia has a fledgling tech industry, with plenty of opportunities for competition. Tech companies, especially from developed countries will have massive advantage over companies from developing countries, with their superior education and exposure of a kind that will give them an edge over local startups.

Indonesia hovers on the brink of a technological awakening that will make it Asia’s next biggest e-commerce market. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, said, “We are changing the world with technology.”