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View all search resultsIndonesia: Reimagining the state
To meet fast-growing expectations political leaders need to reimagine the role of the state for the new age of technology.
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A miniature of robot and toy hands point toward words reading “Artificial intelligence AI“, in this illustration created on Dec. 14, 2023. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic)
I
have returned to Indonesia many times over the years. Each visit reminds me of the country’s extraordinary scale and promise: the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, the world’s largest archipelago country, and Southeast Asia’s only member of the G20.
But this time, in my discussion with President Prabowo Subianto and senior ministers, something else stood out. Alongside Indonesia’s huge scale and economic potential, they are facing the same challenge political leaders face everywhere: how to govern in the Age of AI.
The expectations of citizens are rising fast, driven by the ongoing technological revolution of artificial intelligence. And the job of political leaders is to reimagine government, equally fast, to meet those expectations.
The government of Indonesia is beginning to do that, starting with the issues that most affect citizen’s lives. And if they can build on this momentum, with the right policies and technologies, there is the potential not just to transform Indonesia, but to offer an example to the world.
Let’s be clear. All leaders are governing in the age of AI, whether they like it or not, because their citizens are already living in the age of AI. Digital services, increasingly accelerated by AI, are part of daily life. Citizens are used to the speed and simplicity of private-sector platforms, from e-commerce to digital payments.
Indonesia is a young, dynamic country, and young people raised on the expectation that they can run their lives from their phones will expect the government to be similarly responsive.
To meet these fast-growing expectations political leaders need to reimagine the role of the state for the new age of technology. That means using technology not just to do the same old things more efficiently, but to completely rethink how the state works to make use of the possibilities of AI.
