Microsoft Strengthens Indonesia Technology Ecosystem in Dev//Verse to Empower National Digital Transformation Acceleration

 |   Indonesia News Center

  • Microsoft Learn learning platform and Azure innovation portal are now available in Bahasa Indonesia
  • Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is officially available globally, including for Indonesia

Jakarta, 22 March 2022 – Microsoft today reaffirms its commitment to Empower Indonesia Digital Economy by introducing three local platforms that enable every Indonesian— individuals and communities, students and professionals, startups and enterprises, government and educational institutions—to sharpen their digital skills, create technology-based innovations, refine their idea, and expand their network wherever they are. The platform and program include the availability of Microsoft Learn learning platform and Azure Innovation Portal in Bahasa Indonesia, as well as the availability of Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub for anyone with startups or startups idea in Indonesia.

This commitment is unveiled in “Dev//Verse: Empowering Developer Universe”, a virtual conference that invites all of Indonesia technology enthusiasts to know more about the latest developer platforms, learn collaborative success stories between industry players and digital talents, hone the latest digital skills, and explore business development or new job opportunities.

Ridwan Kamil, the Governor of West Java Province said, “Along with Indonesia’s vision to be a country with the leading digital economy in Southeast Asia, collaboration and support from stakeholders do play a significant role. The presence of events like Dev//Verse, that aim to empower digital talents, especially developers and their ecosystem, hopefully, can bring us closer to that vision. The West Java Provincial Government really appreciates Microsoft Indonesia’s initiative to organize this event, where we also participate by organizing the Cloud Skills Challenge for West Java residents. Let’s move together towards a more accelerative digital talent development. Not only for West Java or Indonesia, but also for the world.”

Held for four days (22-25 March 2022), Dev//Verse highlights four main topics, which are immersive technology that has become a new wave of innovation in Indonesia, digital native and sustainability to empower startups (such as through Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub) and support Indonesia’s carbon neutral commitment by 2060, end-to-end developer tools to build dream application safely and inclusively, such as through Azure innovation portal Bahasa Indonesia, also digital talents’ future that is strengthened by the launch of Microsoft Learn Bahasa Indonesia.

“As elaborated in Indonesia 2021-2024 Digital Roadmap*, there are four strategic sectors that need transformation acceleration, namely digital infrastructure, digital governance, digital economy, and digital community. This demonstrates how digital talent empowerment and its surrounding technology ecosystem are greatly needed. Therefore, Microsoft continuously expands our commitment to Indonesia by localizing Microsoft Learn learning platform and Azure innovation portal, as well as by introducing a specific platform for startups, Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, in Indonesia. All of this is done to assist Indonesia in every digital transformation step and process in the country; empowering as many individuals and organizations as possible to take part in this journey,” said Dharma Simorangkir, President Director of Microsoft Indonesia.

Improving Inclusive Learning Process and Innovation

Microsoft Learn is an online learning platform that provides thousands of technology information materials for free. A total of 396 learning paths and 1,536 modules are now available in Bahasa Indonesia, bringing up crucial topics such as cloud, data and AI, as well as cybersecurity. These localized materials are expected to support the fulfillment of Indonesia’s needs of nine million digital talents by 2035**. This number will continuously be increased to further support the empowerment of national digital talent. In particular for Azure-related topic, all learning paths and modules are already localized into Bahasa Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Azure innovation portal, now also available in Bahasa Indonesia, is a portal that enables developers and digital talents to build their innovation in Microsoft Azure cloud platform. Reinforced with Artificial Intelligence and supported with high level of compliance and security, this portal localization is intended to ease Indonesian developers’ and digital talents’ innovation process, hence able to accelerate the industries and nation’s digital transformation inclusively.

Supporting Early-Stage Startups to Turn Ideas into Business

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssBZm87mPos]

Along with this digital transformation acceleration, it is also important to support the development of startups. Research shows that in 2019, startups failure rate reached around 90%. Lack of expertise, incompatibility of ideas and target markets, and lack of funding are some of the causes many startups fail to take off, whereas startups play an important role in driving innovation in the technology industry. Indonesia itself is currently the home to more than 2,300 startups, making Indonesia the 5th country with the highest number of startups in the world.***

Therefore, Microsoft launched the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub to support all startups founders and idea owners—regardless of their background, progress, and passions—to refine idea, develop products, grow businesses, and scale-up. Startups interested in participating do not need to be “investor-backed” to sign up and access benefits.

Available globally, including for Indonesian startups, Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub offers technology support, mentoring and go-to market assistance that are needed by startups to achieve their next milestones—all accessible for free. Moreover, startups can develop their business in accordance with their own readiness and pace using Microsoft Azure technology with a value of up to USD150,000 (around IDR2.1 billion) for free. If the need for use increases, founders can unlock additional credits, according to the scale of the business and its growth. More information about Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub can be found here.

Mohamed Salim, Director of Innovation Factory explained, “We welcome the presence of Microsoft’s new platforms, portals and programs for Indonesia. These initiatives are in line with the needs of digital talent, developers, and startups in Indonesia: access to learning, tools and technology, mentoring, as well as network. We’re excited to join Microsoft in conducting Dev//Verse: Empowering Developer Universe. We hope this collaboration can provide tangible benefits for strengthening the technology ecosystem in Indonesia.”

To know more about the strengthened technology ecosystem, join the “Dev//Verse: Empowering Developer Universe”. Registration can be done at http://aka.ms/DevVerse.

###

*Menkonmifo Paparkan Roadmap Digital Indonesia, 13 July 2021

**Mata Kuliah Startup Digital Bersifat Opsional, Kemendikbudristek. 2021.

***Startup Ranking Per Countries. Startup Ranking. 2022