Key ICT Information

• The current ICT infrastructure is serving to only 1-5% of the country's population.
• The country should be currently satisfied by estimated 7.1 million 100% digital fixed phone line infrastructure, and approximately the same number of cellular subscribers as estimated in 2002.
• As reported by IDC, in 2001, Indonesia is spending US$752 million in IT hardware, US$124 million in software, US$ 85 million in IT services.
• It is estimated a total of US$ 1,228 million of IT spending in 2001. Adding telecommunication spending into the picture, a total of US$ 3.539 million of ICT spending is estimated in 2001.
• ICT/GDP is about 2.2% or about US$16.6 ICT/Capita.
• Software over hardware spending is only 16.5%. Internet commerce is very low at 0.10% to total commerce, and it is about US$2.11 per capita. Only 9.8% of IT spending is on e-business technology.
• In 2001, there is estimated 2.3 million PCs in the country. Most of these PC, about 1.9 million are used in business and government.
• Only about 251.000 PCs are used in Indonesian household. More than 60.000 educational institutions are currently using only about 58.000 PCs.
• It serves in excess of 2 million Internet users, out of approximately 600.000 Internet subscribers.
• It is not surprising to see 60-70% Internet access is performed through 1500+ Internet cafés in the country.
• It is quite affordable ranging from US$ 0.3-1 / hour. However, in tourist areas, such as, Bali, fare can be as high as US$5-6/hour.
• In the average Indonesian content in Indonesian language contributes only about 15.3% of all content on Indonesia.
• The percentage of Indonesian content in Indonesian language reaches its 27.1% peak in technology related areas; followed by health/nutrition at 23.7% and news current affairs at 22%.
• Google search using keyword e-commerce Indonesia, Indonesia e-business, indonesia e-trade and indonesia commerce reveals an overwhelming 500,000 URLs. These URLs will be mixed Indonesian and a significant number of English pages. Using very Indonesian keyword, such as, usaha export import and dagang luar negeri, reveals only about 5000 pages.
• In the year 2001, the ICT spending in IT Hardware is US$ 752M; US$ 124M Software; US$85 M in IT Services; and US$ 68M in other office equipment. Total IT spending in 2001 is US$ 1,228M, which is significantly less than telecommunication spending at US$ 2,311M.
• Currently (late 2002), there are 2000+ Internet Cafes in Indonesia.
• About 1489 Internet Café is registered at http://www.natnit.net/warnet/.
• More than 50% of the Indonesian Internet café is located in Jakarta & its surrounding areas. About 87% are located in Jawa Island. While the rest of Indonesia should be pleased with only 200 Internet Café, of which, 25% is located in Bali and a large portion in Sumatera Island.
• Based on the technology & business plan described freely in http://www.bogor.net/idkf, the cost for public users to access Internet was reduced to approximately US$0.5/hour at various Internet cafés.
• At Indonesian schools, the cost for accessing the Internet can be brutally reduced to approximately US$ 0.5/student/month.
• Satellite access is quite expensive, it costs approximately US$5000 per Mbps per month.
• Sharing the cost with 10-20 Internet cafés reduces the cost to US$250-500 / month / Internet café. US$500 / month / Internet café is affordable knowing some of these cafés can easily get US$50-100 / day from their customer.
• Only in the last ten years, two Indonesian ministries, namely, ministry of research and technology (www.ristek.go.id) and ministry of education (www.dikti.org), invest in excess of US$3 million on more than 110 research activities in ICT.
• The Indonesian National Research Council at the Ministry of Research and Technology has been providing funding for about 88 ICT researches.
• There are five (5) ICT research themes performed, namely, electronics components, telecommunication technology, software, signal processing, and power.
• 65% of the research activities are on electronics components and telecommunication technology. Less than 20% are on software research.
• More than 40% of the ICT researches, funded by Ministry of Research and Technology, are done and lead by researchers at Institute of Technology in Bandung (www.itb.ac.id).
• The Higher Education Directorate General at Ministry of Education (www.dikti.org) is supporting more than 36 research activities in ICT. About 44% of the research is in electronics system; followed by software research at 25%. The rest of the research is in telecommunication technology, signal processing and power.

Source: Digital Review for Asia Pacific