President Jokowi Calls for Regulations on Investment in Data Center

President Jokowi chairs a limited meeting on the Development of the National Data Center, Presidential Office, Jakarta, Friday (28/2). (Photo by: Rahmat/PR)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has called for provisions of regulations or rules regarding investment in data centers in Indonesia.

“We know that at this time many of our startups that with significant growth in the past few years still use data centers abroad,” the President said in his introduction in a Limited Meeting on the Development of the National Data Center at the Presidential Office, Jakarta, Friday (28/2).

If the data center is located at home, according to the President, it will bring many benefits as it is faster, safer and helpful for local troubleshooting in system development that can be done faster.

“I’ve seen many global players in the likes of Microsoft, Amazon, Alibaba, Google who have expressed interest to join and have even begun to develop their data centers in Indonesia,” the President said.

The reasons, the President added, are because Indonesia has great potentials and the most active startup ecosystem as well as the largest digital market in Southeast Asia. Therefore, Indonesia should not only become a spectator, he said.

“We must also ensure that data center investments in Indonesia will give added values, be it in digital talent trainings, research and development, cooperation with national players, or in exchange of knowledge and technology,” he said.

The Head of State also pointed out the Government continues to encourage the emergence of national players in the development of data centers, ranging from SOEs in telecommunications to private sectors, which have begun to expand their business in data center.

Regarding the national data center, the Government, he added, has started with one map, one data, and it is time to continue with the development of a national data center.

The national data center, according to the President, is of particular importance given the fact that a survey by Ministry of Communications and Informatics in 2018 shows that 2,700 data centers are found in 630 central agencies, regional governments, which means that on average there are 4 data center centers in each government institution.

“At the national level, the utilization of data centers and hardware only accounts for an average of 30 percent of the total capacity,” the President said.

This fact, according to the President, indicates the duplication of budget allocated for the Information and Communication Technology spending because each ministry develops its own data center.

“We should not let this happen in the future and we will develop a data center that is expected to have optimum utility. And it will be realized with developing an integrated data center and this is the result of synchronization from all Ministries and Institutions,” the President said.

The President further said that the Government is starting to prepare protection for personal data and data security because it is related to data sovereignty.

“The Government has proposed a regulation on the protection of personal data to the House of Representatives (DPR). Therefore, Bill on Personal Data Protection will serve as a win-win solution for omnipresent personal data arrangements in several prevailing laws and regulations. There are approximately 32 regulations governing personal data,” he said. (HIM/SM/EN)

Translator: Muhardi

Reviewed by: M. Ersan Pamungkas