NVIDIA X Indosat: Catapulting Indonesia At Forefront Of The Global AI Community

Indonesia's quest to lead Southeast Asia – and soon, the world – in high-tech telecommunications has gained momentum following a groundbreaking partnership between a leading telecoms provider in the country and a global tech titan. This historic collaboration marks a giant leap in Indonesia's artificial intelligence and cloud ambitions, cementing the country's position as a digital powerhouse in the region.

Indonesian telecommunications provider Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison announced at the Mobile World Congress 2024 on Feb. 28 that it has collaborated with software behemoth NVIDIA in a partnership aimed at revolutionizing Indonesia's technological landscape, positioning the country to emerge as a key – if not the top – player in Southeast Asia, as well as a global leader in AI cloud services.

Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the companies in Barcelona, NVIDIA will bring its full-stack AI platform to Indonesian enterprises via Indosat and its subsidiary, Lintasarta, marking Lintasarta as NVIDIA's first Cloud Provider Partner in the country. The integration of NVIDIA's technology will be facilitated by BDx Indonesia, a joint venture of Indosat, Lintasarta, and BDx Data Centers.

The collaboration marks the first time NVIDIA's high-end graphics processing unit (GPU) technologies will be available for access among Indonesians. Through the partnership, Indosat looks to leverage its data centers to enable a "sovereign AI platform for driving innovation across the ecosystem."

Vikram Sinha, CEO of Indosat, told International Business Times that the telecoms company aspires to play a significant part in Indonesia's technological advancement. "With the partnership with NVIDIA, Indosat aims to place the country firmly at the forefront of the global AI Cloud community and empower Indonesian businesses through access to cutting-edge AI technologies and cloud services."

In Salesforce's 2023 AI Readiness Index, Indonesia ranks 10^th in Asia Pacific in overall AI readiness. It is fourth in Southeast Asia, behind Singapore (1^st globally), Malaysia and Thailand. Indonesia has shown promise in the 2023 index, as it had the largest rise in overall AI readiness between 2021 and 2023.

With the NVIDIA partnership, hopes have surged for Indonesia's AI infrastructure to see a major turnaround, showcasing the country's innovation and creativity that could drive economic growth.

"Our partnership with NVIDIA means that Indosat Ooredoo Hutchinson is now an AI-powered TechCo. It is a significant milestone for Indosat and our subsidiary Lintasarta, who will become the pioneer NVIDIA cloud partner and so leverage NVIDIA's unique technology to offer AI cloud services to customers," Sinha told IBT.

The most pivotal aspect of the partnership is the expected improvements NVIDIA's technology will bring to Indonesian enterprises, including boosting productivity and minimizing operational expenses.

"All in all, this collaboration will help to democratize access to AI-cloud services, making it accessible to every Indonesian business. Through access to AI-cloud services, we believe in contributing to creating a truly digital nation in Indonesia, unlocking the full potential of the Indonesian, and creating jobs and opportunities for everyone," Sinha said.

Moving forward, Indosat and Lintasarta's NVIDIA-powered AI cloud services aim to establish new-gen data centers that capitalize on sustainability, hyper-connectivity, and a high level of AI readiness that should steer Indonesia's telecommunications sector and the tech industry as a whole.