AWS Indonesia Country Leader Talks about Data Sovereignty to Investment in Indonesia

The development of digital services cannot be separated from supporting services such as technology cloud. Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a provider of cloud computing services (cloud computing) in Indonesia to DailySocial explain the business landscape cloud in Indonesia and the challenges they face.

Services cloud has actually been popular since conventional business shifted to digital. However, due to some reasons, technology adoption cloud slower in Indonesia. AWS Indonesia Country Leader Gunawan Susanto said, one of the reasons is the understanding of business people about the importance of technology public cloud still relatively low.

According to Gunawan, this can be seen from the way digital service providers see the definition of cloud computing itself. Not a few consider that using infrastructure cloud have to pay up front with a minimum contract of a number of years which if violated can be subject to a penalty.

"If cloud computing by definition it shouldn't be. They should have used it, paid for it, didn't use it, didn't pay [pay as you go]," said Gunawan.

Another factor that becomes an obstacle is the quality of human resources that have not met market demands. Gunawan views the dissemination of information technology knowledge as low, especially about the cloud, affect the public's understanding of the importance of this service.

AWS investment for digital ecosystem

Facing these challenges, AWS invests in many forms. A number of these investments include the AWS Training Certification program as free digital training for IT workers including machine learning, artificial intelligence, to big data analysis; AWS Educate as training cloud computing in educational institutions; and AWS Activate as a consultation place for startup engineers in the country.

Gunawan said the training was needed to equalize human resource capabilities, especially regarding cloud computing. Even so, he admitted that the investment was not enough so that it needed a longer commitment.

"Is it enough? Not yet, we want more. We also participated in the Bekraf program as speakers at the developer day, gave special material, together with ITB made training, hackathon and collaboration with local partners and community to expand cloud skills more," added Gunawan.

On the other hand, AWS reaffirms their investment commitment in building cloud computing infrastructure in Indonesia. Gunawan explained that his party will soon have Regions in Indonesia which consists of 3 Availability Zones.

Please note in advance, Amazon promises an investment of $1 billion or about IDR 14 trillion in September 2018. The investment commitment for the next 10 years was conveyed by Amazon representatives when visiting President Joko Widodo.

Data center local end 2021

As a cloud computing service provider, the level of security is one of the main concerns. Gunawan emphasized that his party has invested a lot in building a system so that the data stored by customers is safe. The plan data center Domestically, it is targeted to operate in late 2021 or early 2022.

The importance of domestic data centers is suspected to be one of the factors a number of business entities are hesitant to switch to public cloud services. By being in the country, they feel that their data is more secure thanks to the protection of government regulations.

“In principle, we always have a dialogue to comply with all regulations in each country. So we will always help our customers to comply with any regulations that apply in each country. After all, with AWS having a data center in Indonesia, it should make it easier for customers, especially in industries with strict regulations," said Gunawan.

For information, the Government is preparing a revision of Government Regulation Number 82 of 2012 concerning the Implementation of Electronic Systems and Transactions (PSTE). Latest news said the revision of PP PSTE had been signed by the president. There is one article that allows data storage outside the territory of Indonesia.