Indonesia is reportedly planning to build Silicon Valley megaproject, namely Bukit Algoritma in Cikidang and Cibadak area, Sukabumi, West Java. A series of Silicon Valley development plans were presented by a number of officials in Indonesia in various cities. However, until now, it is not known the clarity of the continuation of the areas that are predicted as Indonesian-style Silicon Valley.
Beside Sukabumi, a few cities such as Bandung, Yogyakarta and Malang have been mentioned as having areas that will become Silicon Valley. Recently, the Special Economic Zones in Cibadak and Cikidang Sukabumi are predicted to be transformed into the next Silicon Valley. It will be home for several industries, such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, quantum technology, semiconductors and energy storage. (cnnindonesia.com).
However, Bukit Algortima development plan raises doubts. Because there are a number of challenges to replicate the United States-style Silicon Valley, which is located in San Jose, San Francisco, California. One of them is Indonesia is considered not to have a digital ecosystem. In addition, the research and development capacity in the country is low. It can be seen from the minimal budget which is only 0,2% of GDP.
Indonesian-style Silicon Valley, which is closely related to digitalization, is faced with the lack of availability of human resources (HR). According to research by McKinsey and the World Bank, for the next 15 years Indonesia lacks nine million digital talent. It means 600 thousand digital talent per year.
In addition, digital inequality is still felt with 12.548 villages that are still not connected to the 4G network. Another problem, in the US the first to be built is not the physical form of Silicon Valley, but the ecosystem. In Indonesia, it's the opposite (katadata.co.id).
Indonesia's obsession with owning its own Silicon Valley has become controversial. The reason is, so far the local technology ecosystem has been formed organically and is able to grow into a living and growing ecosystem. In June 2020, the research institute Startup Genome, which examines technology ecosystems around the world, placed Jakarta in second place on the list of the Top 100 Emerging Ecosystems. Mumbai, India, took first place.
When viewed in terms of the number of existing valuations, Jakarta occupies the first position with a total value of around US$26 billion (IDR371,7 trillion), ahead of Guangzhou, Kuala Lumpur and Mumbai. As quoted from www.startupgenome.com, Jakarta is also known to be friendly to early-stage startups, because in the period 2017 to 2018, there was US$845,9 million (IDR12 trillion) in funding injected into early-stage startups (seeds).
To sum up, in terms of vision and objectives is a positive thing. But for the execution need more detailed and mature planning. If the big vision to be achieved is to create a more innovative and sustainable ecosystem, it is better to fix the fundamentals first. These fundamentals, according id.techinasia.com, include improving the education and development of technology talent, building an entrepreneurial spirit, and presenting an easy and concise business licensing system. After that carrying out advanced initiatives such as creating Silicon Valley itself. (Ruhmaya Nida Wathoni. Illustration:). thebolditalic.com
