Heaptalk, Jakarta — Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi), in collaboration with Microsoft, has released the AI skilling program ‘ElevAlte Indonesia’ to equip 1 million Indonesian talents with the necessary AI skills.
ElevAlte Indonesia program will be implemented by collaborating with governments, industry, educational institutions, nonprofits, and civil society to connect the country’s talent with new opportunities in the AI era, such as supercharging productivity, amplifying creativity, increasing the quality of work, and accelerating innovation responsibly.
To achieve Indonesia’s 1 million AI skills target by 2025, the implementation of ElevAIte Indonesia will be divided into five main pillars, with Biji-Biji Initiative and Dicoding as training partners. Each pillar will also collaborate with different institutions, organizations, and communities to inclusively connect people across Indonesia with AI opportunities. The five pillars cover:
- Enhancing AI Proficiency in Government Institutions: This point aims to strengthen civil servants’ capabilities by providing training in artificial intelligence (AI) skills, enabling them to deliver more effective and efficient public services.
- Expanding Reach Through Strategic National Industries: this initiative focuses on accelerating AI transformation among Indonesia’s industrial players, from MSMEs to large enterprises, to drive innovation and generate new economic value through AI.
- Unlocking AI Potential in Education: this pillar aims to revolutionize the learning process within Indonesia’s education system while fostering a new generation of local developers equipped with AI expertise.
- Empowering Social, Environmental, and Community Impact Organizations, this element delivers AI skills to underserved, underrepresented, and digitally marginalized groups, including women, people with disabilities, and communities in remote areas. NUCare Global and Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert are vital partners, with additional collaborations to be announced.
- Empowering Individual Learners: this pillar ensures that every individual can learn AI. To support this, Microsoft has launched the AI Skills Navigator, a platform aggregating learning materials from Microsoft Learn and LinkedIn Learning. Equipped with AI assistants, this platform simplifies access to AI education tailored to users’ goals and interests. The platform will soon be available in the Indonesian language.
“ElevAIte Indonesia will focus on equipping skills to adopt responsible AI, from using AI tools to complete tasks more quickly and with better quality to developing AI solutions to create added value and address the most pressing national issues. It is critical to remember that AI transformation is not merely a technological transformation but a national transformation,” Dharma Simorangkir, President and Director of Microsoft Indonesia, affirmed.
Following a US$1,7bn investment
Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs Meutya Hafid said that Microsoft has previously committed to investing US$1.7 billion, approximately Rp27.6 trillion, in Indonesia. The investment is claimed to enable Microsoft to meet Indonesia’s growing demand for cloud computing services and capitalize on the latest AI technology’s significant economic and productivity opportunities.
Through this AI-focused partnership, Meutya Hafid expressed hopes of enhancing public service efficiency and improving digital space oversight. She emphasized that the Ministry often receives feedback from the public to ensure a healthy and productive digital environment.
“We appreciate the investment commitment of US$1.7 billion or around Rp27.6 trillion, representing the largest investment in the 29-year history of Microsoft’s presence in Indonesia. ElevAIte Indonesia, we underscore the critical need for Microsoft to prioritize equitable AI education. This entails delivering foundational AI training that is accessible to all demographics within the populace. Consequently, the program’s participants must encompass a broad spectrum of diverse societal groups.” she concluded.
