Indonesia is set to significantly expand its investments in digital infrastructure to fortify its digital economy and maintain robust economic growth. The government has unveiled a stimulus package for the upcoming year aimed at stimulating key sectors and fostering sustainable investments, in line with the ambitious Golden Indonesia 2045 vision. This includes upcoming procurements for biometrics, such as upgrading the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) to integrate legacy biometric frameworks. These efforts underscore a commitment to enhancing digital public infrastructure (DPI) as a cornerstone for national development.
A key pillar of this initiative is the foundational national digital ID (IKD), which has already been issued to at least 17 million citizens. Indonesia is actively building partnerships and adopting global best practices to advance its digital ID ecosystem. The country will host the Global DPI Summit next year, organized by the Directorate General of Population and Civil Registration, to influence global digital governance discussions. Topics will cover the relevance of digital IDs, practical use cases, suitable implementation models for Indonesia, interoperability, and security measures. Experts recommend starting with a centralized system before evolving to a decentralized one to support the broader digital economy.
Collaborations involve major players like Amazon Web Services (AWS), which recently hosted a summit in Jakarta in August 2025 focusing on generative AI, digital innovation, data governance, connectivity, security, resilience, sustainability, and strategic partnerships. Insights from World Bank expert Jonathan Marskell and examples from other emerging economies, such as India’s Aadhaar and UPI, Brazil’s Pix, Nigeria’s National Identification Number (NIN) for over 121 million people, and South Africa’s MyMzansi DPI roadmap, highlight successful DPI strategies.
By prioritizing indigenous DPI development, Indonesia aims to minimize reliance on foreign platforms, retain domestic economic value from payments, IDs, and data exchanges, and enable resilient digital transformation through private sector engagement. The anticipated outcomes include improved service delivery via biometric authentication, greater citizen participation in the digital economy, and overall contributions to sustained economic growth, mirroring successes in the Global South.
(Source: Biometric Update)
