Two Countries to Overtake Indonesia If No Transformation Is Made

Ravi Krishnaswamy, the SVP of Energy, Sustainability & Industrial in Asia Pacific at Frost & Sullivan, said the UN data on the status of SDGs showed that Southeast Asia had made significant progress in several SDGs goals.

However, there are still some concerns, especially in terms of poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many economic activities could not run as usual so that their incomes were depressed, and some even lost their livelihoods.

"There are still millions of people who are not yet connected digitally, so the government needs to take various ways to strengthen infrastructure, connectivity between economic centers and supporting areas," he explained.

Alfian Manullang, the VP of Internet of Things at Telkomsel, explained the company's commitment to supporting digital transformation in the country.

The government and the company have carried out various initiatives regarding infrastructure through the Merah Putih program.

"It aims to provide network access in leading as well as disadvantaged and outermost areas. The Universal Service Obligation (USO) program targets to reach more than 11,000 villages without internet access," said Alfian.

The company also uses sustainable energy sources, such as solar power, hydropower, and fuel cells (electrochemical conversion devices that produce electricity with exhaust gas in the form of water vapor, with zero emission).