Microsoft will establish its first datacentre region in Indonesia, delivering cloud services locally and the ability its data in country. The announcement made last Thursday is part of the company’s Berdayakan Ekonomi Digital Indonesia initiative, which aims to play a pivotal role in accelerating the country’s transformation into a digital economy.
As part of this major commitment, Microsoft also revealed plans to skill an additional 3 million Indonesians to achieve its goal of empowering over 24 million Indonesians by the end of 2021, through its long-established skills programs designed to create inclusive economic opportunities in the digital era.
Indonesia’s Minister of Communication and Information Johnny G. Plate said the establishment of the local datacentre region as well as Microsoft’s plans to boost its efforts of digitally upskilling local talents will benefits businesses across all sectors.
“We also welcome Microsoft's commitment to increase the capacity of Indonesian digital talent across all skill levels," he added.
As part of the Berdayakan Ekonomi Digital Indonesia initiative, the skills initiative will empower Indonesians in AI, cybersecurity, and data science through a digital literacy curriculum. It develops talent pipelines for high-demand skills, while increasing the employability of Indonesians. In collaboration with four universities and the Ministry of Communications and Information, this digital upskilling programme extends across backgrounds, including students and teachers, those in mid-career, home makers and people from disadvantaged communities.
Long-term commitment to Indonesian market
According to research from IDC, Microsoft's investment in Indonesia is expected to generate up to USD $6.3 billion in new revenues from the country's ecosystem of local customers and partners. In addition, its cloud-consuming businesses are expected to contribute 60,000 jobs to the local economy, over the next four years.
The technology company has more than 150 employees and 7,000 partners across Indonesia's 17,000 islands - its significant local presence has been actively supporting the country’s startup community and ecosystem.
"We have a long-term commitment to Indonesia's growth. This announcement is our most significant investment in the 26 years we have been established here,” said Jean-Philippe Courtois, executive vice president and president, Microsoft Global Sales, Marketing and Operations.
He noted that from ecommerce to agriculture, Indonesian businesses across all sectors are gaining a digital advantage with the agility, security and scale offered by Microsoft's cloud services.
"We're proud to support Indonesian businesses and governments in their move to the trusted cloud with Microsoft. Over the last 26 years, we have been empowering industries across Indonesia and preparing Indonesians with future ready skills to improve their employability,” said Haris Izmee, president director for Microsoft Indonesia. “The announcement validates our Berdayakan Ekonomi Digital Indonesia initiative, to empower every person and every organisation in Indonesia to achieve more.”
Accelerating digital agility across Indonesia
With the new datacentre region, Indonesia will join Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure that comprises of over 60 datacentre regions announced to date. Microsoft delivers enterprise-grade data security and privacy. With more than 90 compliance certifications, the company meets a broad range of industry and regulatory entity standards.
With its first local datacentre region, businesses across Indonesia will have access to Microsoft Azure – enabling them to use cloud services and capabilities that span computing, networking, databases, analytics, artificial intelligence, and Internet of Things (IoT).
Microsoft said the new datacentre region will feature Azure Availability Zones, which are unique physical locations equipped with independent power, network and cooling for additional tolerance to datacentre failures – supporting customer needs for high-availability and resiliency in their applications. Also, the Indonesia datacentre region will also support Microsoft's sustainability goals, including its commitment to shift to 100% supply of renewable energy in Microsoft datacentres by 2025.
Existing enterprise customers such as Bukalapak, Pertamina, and the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture have expressed their commitment to using Microsoft Cloud from the new region when it is available.
"Our partnership with Microsoft is transforming e-commerce and operations for merchants in Indonesia. With a trusted local datacentre region, we will help our 6.5 million merchants, 7 million Bukalapak partners and more than 100 million customers achieve business resiliency in the face of the pandemic. Equally, our combined efforts in skilling merchants and our employees will empower the digital economy, improving employability, creating opportunities, and transforming lives," said Rachmat Kaimuddin, CEO of Bukalapak.
"Pertamina and Microsoft have a strong collaboration in accelerating digital transformation and empowering Indonesia's digital economy. I welcome Microsoft's commitment to establish a datacentre region in Indonesia, which will enable every Indonesian business to embrace the digital economy and create disruptive innovation," said Nicke Widyawati, president director, Pertamina.
Indonesia’s Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo lauded Microsoft's commitment to establish a datacentre region in Indonesia,” which will give even more opportunities for joint programs in enhancing the agricultural digital ecosystem”.
“Agriculture is one of Indonesia's critical industries where with the support of real-time, data driven innovation through sensors on the field connected with the cloud as well as providing digital farming capability training for Young Farmers it can make an enormous positive impact on Indonesia's economy," he said.
