How can interconnection strengthen Indonesia’s digital core? – Academia

ndonesia’s digital infrastructure development is at a critical junction, with the nation actively seeking to enhance its interconnectivity and resilience backed by the government’s ambitious Digital Indonesia Road Map.

Hosting an internet user base of over 200 million and a burgeoning demand for data-intensive services like streaming and gaming, the need for robust digital infrastructure for Indonesia has never been greater. By investing in the expansion of digital infrastructure, Indonesia can interconnect and tap into advanced digital capabilities to fuel the rise of its digital economy.

In the digital economy, the regions and enterprises that best manage their data will be the ones that thrive. However, modern data management is increasingly complex and multifaceted, with colocation data centers having to become a pivotal component in the evolution of data and its role in business.

Traditionally, colocation meant a business would deploy its hardware inside a physical data center that is owned and operated by a third party as a valuable cost-saving alternative to the on-premises servers that were the standard in the early days of enterprise information technology ( IT).

Now, businesses are handling more data from more sources and using it to enable advanced applications for artificial intelligence (AI), e-commerce and digital transformation. The way modern Indonesian and global enterprises use data has changed; thus, colocation services must also change accordingly.

Today, colocation is often the foundation for a business’ global digital infrastructure strategy, from which they can access on-demand services, such as virtual networking and automated bare metal. Colocation data centers have also become the neutral gathering place of the digital economy, helping enterprises and people unlock more value by interconnecting easily with service providers and business partners.

Greater availability of colocation would support Indonesia’s efforts in building a digital economy that is inclusive in its growth.

Indonesia has one of the highest AI adoption rates in Southeast Asia with 24.6 percent of businesses utilizing AI technologies. The government has also launched its National AI Strategy (Stranas KA) 2020-2045, aiming to promote AI development among public and private sectors.

This is in response to new technologies like AI going from science fiction to everyday reality in just a few short years. The common factor behind all these new applications is that they consume a lot of data and computing power, and they need that data processed without delay.

There is an upper limit to how quickly data can move from source to processing location, which means that moving data long distances will inevitably create network latency. This explains why businesses can no longer rely solely on data centers in one or two core locations. They need access to data centers distributed at the digital edge so that they can process data closer to the source. Working with colocation providers that have a global data center footprint can help address this need.

When selecting an optimal data center location, several factors come into play. Since many enterprises need to exchange data with business partners in diverse industries such as healthcare, manufacturing and telecommunications, a vendor-neutral colocation data center can offer a platform for that diversity in data exchange.

However, this is only effective if it is in the right location to ensure low-latency connectivity for all partners in the ecosystem.

With cloud adoption on the rise across all sectors, data centers should be deployed in cloud-dense locations to support hybrid multicloud architecture, enabling seamless data movement between on-premises systems and the cloud. This can help enterprises use cloud services while applying security and compliance controls in their on-premises environments.

Enterprises that are pursuing geo-redundancy as part of their site selection strategy would also require interconnection between disparate ecosystems and robust network availability to maintain rapid and reliable data exchange. Deploying equipment in data centers with dense ecosystems of network service providers can help enterprises move data without delay to other data center locations whenever they need to ensure business continuity.

To achieve this effectively, data center operators should prioritize locations with abundant renewable energy on a stable grid. This maintains a reliable supply of energy for their facilities to maintain smooth operations while assisting with meeting their sustainability goals.

Location also impacts the availability of power purchase agreements (PPAs), which can be used to scale renewable energy coverage quickly and support local grids in communities where data centers operate.

Indonesia stands at a pivotal moment in its digital journey as it looks to ramp up both its digital capacity and capability. Jakarta sufficiently meets the cursory considerations for data center infrastructure. Its strategic location, coupled with a growing tech-savvy population, demand for cloud services and high enterprise colocation needs makes it an ideal digital hub.

With the right investments in robust digital infrastructure, particularly in strategically placed data centers, the nation will not only enhance its connectivity and resilience, but also drive a sustainable economic engine that supports its Digital Indonesia Road Map and National AI Strategy.

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The writer is senior director of global technical sales for Asia-Pacific at Equinix.

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