Indonesias Digital Competitiveness Ranking Improves

Jakarta, INTI – Indonesia's efforts in accelerating digital transformation have received recognition from the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking (WDCR). In a 2023 report published by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), a Swiss-based institution, Indonesia ranked 45th in the world in terms of digital competitiveness. This is a six-place improvement from its previous ranking of 51st in 2022.

According to the IMD WDCR report released in late 2023, Indonesia's digital competitiveness is superior to that of several other Asian countries, such as India (49th), the Philippines (59th), and Mongolia (63rd). However, in the Southeast Asian region, Indonesia is still behind Singapore (3rd), Malaysia (33rd), and Thailand (35th). This is a real proof of the success and world recognition of the acceleration of national digital transformation.

"This is proof that the government's efforts and hard work in accelerating national digital transformation have been successful. Indonesia's Digital Competitiveness in 2023 has risen to the 45th best in the world. This signifies that the digital transformation that has been prepared by President Joko Widodo has been successful and recognized by the world," said Minister of Communication and Informatics Budi Arie in a press release, as quoted from the official Kominfo website, Thursday (25/1/2024).

The 2023 IMD WDCR report assesses the digital competitiveness of 64 countries by looking at three main factors: knowledge, technology, and future readiness. Based on the latest IMD WDCR research results, Indonesia's digital competitiveness has increased significantly compared to the previous year.

In the past five years, IMD has stated that Indonesia's ranking has continued to rise by 11 places. In 2019, Indonesia was in 56th position and now it has risen to 45th in the world.

There are two aspects that are considered to be Indonesia's success in improving its digital competitiveness. First, the aggressive investment growth in the telecommunications, banking, and venture capital sectors. Second, the growth of technology entrepreneurs also supports Indonesia's technological readiness for the future.

The IMD WDCR report also mentions that in 2023, Indonesia's overall competitiveness rose to 34th in the world, Indonesia's talent competitiveness rose to 47th, and Indonesia's sustainable economy level was at 19th in the world. Several cities in Indonesia are also listed as smart cities in the world, such as Jakarta (102), Medan (112), and Makassar (114).

However, the IMD WDCR report also mentions two factors that still need to be improved in order for Indonesia's digital competitiveness to increase, namely education and training, and research and development of technology. IDM also released the position of internet speed in Indonesia which is ranked 62nd out of a total of 64 countries studied.

Therefore, the Minister of Communication and Informatics stated that the Ministry of Communication and Informatics together with the ecosystem are trying to increase internet speed in Indonesia because this is the key to accelerating national digital transformation.

5G Spectrum Band

Meanwhile, according to Speedtest data in December 2023, Indonesia's internet speed is ranked 9th out of 11 ASEAN countries. Indonesia's internet speed is still slower than neighboring countries Malaysia, Thailand, and even Cambodia. Indonesia is only ahead of Myanmar and Timor Leste according to the data as of December 2023.

To this end, Kominfo plans to issue a policy prohibiting cellular operators from selling fixed broadband internet services with speeds below 100 Mbps. It is said that the internet speed of mobile phones in Indonesia is only 24.96 Mbps while WiFi aka fixed broadband is 27.87 Mbps.

Previously, a report published by research firm OpenSignal in November 2023 stated that Indonesia is still slow in developing 5G networks compared to other countries in Southeast Asia such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore. This is due to several factors, including the unavailability of main 5G spectrum bands such as the 3.5GHz band which causes dependence on more limited spectrum in the 2.3GHz or 1800 MHz bands.

In addition, geographically, Indonesia, which is an archipelago, has its own challenges. The effort to build a comprehensive 5G network on the islands is logistically complicated and requires a large investment. According to Open Signal, the stark gap in 5G availability is a major factor that reduces the potential benefits of 5G technology in Indonesia.