Here’s how ICT makes Jakarta gets smart

With a population of about 9.6 million, Jakarta is the largest city in Indonesia as well as its capital. It’s the country’s economic, cultural and political center and is experiencing rapid urbanization even in the peripheral areas. It’s the most populous city in Southeast Asia and is the tenth-largest city in the world. In short, it’s a megacity – full of hope, optimism, generosity and cultural diversity. In this post, I’d like to take a closer look at how ICT is helping to make Jakarta a smart city as well.

In 2010, the Indonesian telecom market hit its saturation point. With 278 million subscribers, Indonesia is the 4th largest mobile market in the world and the world’s top-ten 3G market. The rapid adoption of smartphones has pushed mobile operators to become key players in the internet sector. By 2015, it is foretasted that smartphones will represent around 40 percent of all handsets in Indonesia. Mobile operators are pushing data services with big advertising budgets – a move that has been helped by declining device and subscription prices.

Like most megacities, Jakarta is struggling to meet the transportation needs of its people. Frustration with Jakarta’s traffic congestion is a daily discussion point for Jakartans. First-time visitors are confronted with the problem the moment they leave the airport. A taxi driver told me once that the average car speed in the city is less than 10 km/h.

Many initiatives are already ongoing to tackle transportation and traffic problems. Of course, additional investment in transportation equipment and infrastructure is needed but these problems can often be solved, or at least mitigated, by providing real-time visibility into traffic elements in order to dynamically optimize existing transportation resources and inform users of the state of traffic in the city.

But who can provide and process this large volume of dynamic data other than ICT sector? With a widespread mobile broadband network, an information system could dynamically push location-based information to city dwellers and commuters as part of a smart mobility ICT solution. However, Jakarta citizens and commuters also need to be engaged, informed and held accountable for this change as well.

Another interesting case is power supply availability. Electricity is not evenly distributed throughout Jakarta. Street vendors use illegal and dangerous electricity connections while working at night. The state electricity company, PLN, is piloting a new program where street vendors can buy small, affordable amounts of electricity through a coin-operated device. When they run out, they can top up with another coin, like using a pay phone. By adding M2M features to the device, PLN will be able to operate its smart wireless device remotely and collect usability information in real-time.
However, a smart city isn’t just about ICT and technology. it’s also about human and social capital, and about educating the urban population. To be successful, a smart city initiative must be a inclusive and democratic program that is embraced by Jakarta’s citizens. That is how citizens can together shape their future.

From an ICT and business perspective, big data analytics, cloud-based services, and M2M-enabled services that intelligently provide real-time inputs will adequately provide smart ICT solutions. New business models between utility and technology providers can be developed to offer these integrated services. Funding mechanisms will be needed and governmental and public-private partnerships are probably the most suitable project models.

Jakarta, the smart city, is a very promising market for service providers. It’s a city that will rely on these providers’ ability to innovate and tap into each other’s industries while taking on multiple roles in the ecosystem.

This post is also published here on the Ericsson Networked Society Blog.