The drive to build a more sovereign, resilient, and sustainable digital ecosystem in Indonesia was the focus of a recent seminar in Jakarta. I had the privilege of participating in this event, titled “Resilient Edge Computing for Data Sovereignty & Modern AI Workloads," which convened over 100 thought leaders, government officials, and industry professionals to explore the future of edge cloud and telecom in the region.
The seminar, organized by PT Alita Praya Mitra in partnership with Rakuten Cloud, the Indonesia IoT Association (ASIOTI), and the Artificial Intelligence Industry Research and Innovation Collaboration (KORIKA), aimed to foster discussions around the key issues and opportunities involved in strengthening Indonesia's digital infrastructure.
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Market research figures show that cloud-based digital transformation is no longer optional—it’s essential. The IDC Indonesia Report for 2024 estimates that the public cloud market could reach $1.38 billion by the end of the year.
Cloud computing penetration is expected to grow to 75%, driven by demand across both the public and private sectors. However, this growth also comes with new challenges. These include reliance on legacy IT infrastructure, soaring operating costs of traditional NFV virtualization platforms, evolving regulatory compliance needs, and rising expectations for data security and sovereignty.
At Rakuten Cloud, we see this as a pivotal moment, and we’re especially excited about our collaboration with Alita. The company’s local knowledge and infrastructure expertise are critical to creating tailor-made solutions for Indonesia’s needs.
The event featured some of the country’s top visionaries. We were honored by the presence of Edwin Hidayat Abdullah, Director General of Digital Ecosystem at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (KOMDIGI), and Aju Widya Sari, KOMDIGI’s Director of Artificial Intelligence and New Technology Ecosystem, who delivered a thought-provoking keynote.
Abdullah’s remarks resonated deeply with our mission. “The development of the digital economy must also carry the principle of equity,” he said during the panel discussion. His words underscored the need to align technological progress with equitable access and national interest.
Teguh Prasetya, President Director of Alita and Chairman of ASIOTI, spoke about Alita’s commitment to edge platforms, IoT, and smart solutions across government and industry sectors. “We believe that the partnership with Rakuten Cloud will accelerate the adoption of cloud-native and edge AI,” he shared. Prasetya also stressed that we are at a critical juncture—an inflection point where local initiatives and global innovation can converge to strengthen Indonesia’s digital transformation and data sovereignty.
Udai Kanukolanu, our Global Head of Sales at Rakuten Symphony, made a compelling case for how our technologies—developed and proven globally—can be used in Indonesia to serve national goals. “This initiative is in line with Indonesia’s vision of digitalization and empowerment, encouraging economic growth and technological progress,” Kanukolanu said. He also reminded us of Rakuten Symphony’s global track record, from retail and healthcare deployments to orchestrating 5G open RAN networks. “We’ve supported more than 40,000 global retail locations and critical health services. Now it’s time for Indonesia to take a similar leap.”
Anirban Chakravartti, our SVP Global Head of Sales for Enterprise, reinforced the urgency of moving beyond trends. “Edge computing and AI are no longer optional—they are essential to meeting today’s demands for real-time data processing and regulatory compliance,” he noted. Chakravartti also outlined how our cloud-native infrastructure supports AI at the edge, enabling secure, automated, and scalable workloads for sectors like retail, manufacturing, and healthcare.
One standout moment came when Prof. Dr. Hammam Riza, Head of KORIKA, spoke on the critical importance of data sovereignty. “With locally developed edge-native cloud, we can ensure that AI and digital data serve the nation’s interests and that we don’t just become consumers of foreign solutions,” he said. His comments highlighted the broader implications of our work—not just for innovation but also for national security, cultural identity, and digital independence.
Dr. Riza also called for ethical and regulatory frameworks to ensure safe AI deployment. Misinformation, data breaches, and algorithmic bias remain real threats. His message was clear: as we deploy powerful new technologies, we must also build the institutions and safeguards that protect citizens and uphold democratic values.
The seminar concluded with insights from executives at Lintasarta and XL Smart, who presented concrete strategies for building sovereign cloud environments. Topics included the integration of containers and virtual machines within Kubernetes platforms, and hybrid infrastructure models ready for immediate deployment.
Reflecting on the event, it’s clear that the digital landscape is evolving, which makes edge cloud and AI no longer technologies of the future—they are tools of today. And in Indonesia, the time to act is now.
Relive the highlights and key insights from this fruitful seminar by watching the recap video.
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