Indonesia urged to secure more domestic value from data centres
A senior digital ministry official questioned how much of Indonesia’s expanding data centre capacity would serve domestic needs.
Indonesia’s rapid data centre expansion should be matched by greater domestic use of the data and information they hold, said Ismail, secretary-general of the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs. Speaking in Jakarta on 3 November 2026, he questioned whether Indonesia would receive benefits commensurate with the investment and resources involved.
At the CNBC Indonesia Coffee Morning event, Ismail cited a projection that the country’s data centre capacity would increase from 500 MB to 3 GB by 2030. He said domestic industries and the digital ecosystem needed to make greater use of that capacity.
While acknowledging the business opportunity, he warned against Indonesia becoming primarily an infrastructure provider whose facilities benefit other countries. He questioned how much of the planned capacity would be used for Indonesia’s own needs.
Ismail said the economic value should extend beyond constructing and operating facilities to using data for productive activities. He also raised concerns that resources such as electricity and water could be consumed without delivering a corresponding share of benefits to Indonesia.
