• News

The digital competitiveness of Indonesia has improved by 6 positions. Unfortunately, the factor of internet speed in Indonesia, which is nearly at the bottom, ranking 62 out of 64 countries studied, hampers Indonesia's digital competitiveness.

The good news is that Indonesia's digital competitiveness has increased. The International Institute for Management Development (IMD) has recently released the latest research results on the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking (WDCR) 2023. According to the research, Indonesia's digital competitiveness has increased and is now ranked 45th in the world.

This achievement marks a six-position improvement from the previous year, where Indonesia was ranked 51st in 2022. Over the last five years, Indonesia's digital competitiveness has risen by 11 positions.

"In 2019, Indonesia was ranked 56th, and now it has risen to the 45th position globally. This reflects the success of significant improvements in digital transformation," said Arturo Bris, Director of IMD World Competitiveness Center (WCC), in his official statement on Wednesday (24/1/2024).

Meanwhile, the top five countries with the best digital competitiveness according to the IMD World Digital Competitiveness 2023 are the United States, the Netherlands, Singapore, Denmark, and Switzerland.

The research also shows that Indonesia's digital competitiveness excels compared to some other Asian countries, such as India (ranked 49), the Philippines (ranked 59), and Mongolia (ranked 63). However, in Southeast Asia, Indonesia still lags far behind Singapore (ranked 3), Malaysia (33), and Thailand (35).

IMD identifies two main factors that contribute to the improvement of Indonesia's digital competitiveness. First, aggressive investment growth, particularly from the telecommunications, venture capital, and banking sectors, has increased Indonesia's digital readiness. Second, the growth of technology entrepreneurs supports Indonesia's technological readiness for the future.

On the other hand, the factors hindering Indonesia's digital competitiveness include the issue of internet speed, where Indonesia is nearly at the bottom, ranking 62 out of 64 countries studied. The number of internet users in Indonesia needs to be increased, as it is only ranked 60th globally. Software piracy in education and technology training is rampant, and there is a lack of research and development in technology in Indonesia over the last five years.

Indonesia also needs to increase grants for the latest technology or high-tech patents and improve the number of workers with specialized technology skills and knowledge to enhance digital competitiveness. Regarding education and training, Indonesia needs to increase the total budget, the student-teacher ratio in higher education, the number of science graduates, the number of female graduates, and achievements in higher education."