Stories of IoT-Based Solution Developers in Indonesia

Internet of Things (IoT) technology in the past five years is quite popular because it is one of several strategic components that support industry 4.0. Simply put, IoT technology allows various types of electronic devices to be able to communicate with each other--perform data circulation, both between devices and with systems or applications.

Last year, the government through the Ministry of Communication and Informatics issued a regulation regarding the use of LoRA WAN frequencies as stated in the Regulation of the Director General of Resources and Equipment of Post and Information Technology (Dirjen SDPPI) Number 3 of 2019 concerning Technical Requirements for Low Power Wide Area Telecommunication Equipment and/or Equipment.

IoT-based solution players appreciate this regulation. It's just that there are still some regulations that are expected to come soon, including providing relief from entry or import fees for customers spare parts or raw materials imported from abroad. This waiver policy is considered to be able to encourage the IoT industry to develop faster considering that many devices are still imported from abroad, especially China.

Regulating foreign players and ease of import

One of the startups in this sector is Habibi Garden, which for the last two years has focused on helping farmer groups in West Java. Habibi Garden CEO Irsan Rajamin to DailySocial said, import policy is quite important. The existence of a special tax to reduce tariffs will provide a positive stimulus for IoT players in Indonesia.

In addition, he added, "Regulation is expected, if there is IoT technology from outside that enters Indonesia, as much as possible there is" partnership or collaboration with local companies or startups. So there is an obligation knowledge transfer."

The same thing was conveyed by the Chief of Product eFisheries Aditya Krishna. He said that to support local startups to develop, at least there must be regulations that limit IoT products from outside to provide space for local players to work on the market in Indonesia.

"Regulations such as TKDN that favor Indonesian startups are also needed. Then tax incentives or the ease of importing the parts needed to develop IoT products are also very important. Almost all the parts needed in developing IoT are still imported, so when the import process is facilitated with the aim of If you develop startups in Indonesia, it will open up new job opportunities in Indonesia," Krisna continued.

This is agreed by Co-Founder & CEO of DycodeX Andri Yadi. He said that cutting import tariffs could indeed have a positive impact on the IoT industry. It's just that to regulate it is not easy. It takes time and Yago's defensive effort to record a lot of devices if waivers will be applied later.

Another regulation that is also expected to be present is the TKDN for devices entering Indonesia. Although the discussion is still in the internal stage of the association, this regulation is considered to be able to boost the growth of the IoT industry in Indonesia.

According to Andri, this TKDN rule must be carefully prepared in advance, especially the readiness of local players. Don't let regulations backfire. It is expected to grow but instead hinders the industry from developing due to unpreparedness.

A piece of the story of local players

Indonesian IoT Association or ASIoTI quite optimistic about the opportunities for the IoT industry in Indonesia. Even at the end of 2019, they targeted 200 million sensors by 2020. This target is expected to be a bit off due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but its development still provides potential and opportunities for many things.

In addition to automation in the industrial sector, a number of solutions in the agriculture and fisheries sectors can be optimized. Habibi Garden and SmartLivestock (one of the solutions from DycodeX) has a very similar solution, but it applies to two different things. HabibiGarden for the agricultural sector and Smarternak for the livestock sector.

Habibi Garden claimed to have collaborated with West Java Digital Service, especially for the agricultural sector. They help farmers to optimize the way they work through IoT devices. Whether they are in the open field or inside greenhouse.

Some of the tools developed by Habibi Garden include tools to monitor the condition of planting media, devices that can be remotely controlled to provide fertilizer, water, pesticides, and the like, as well as several other tools.

"We produce 200 sensors that are packaged for 20 farmer groups in West Java. The tools we use include an automatic watering system, a cooling system for greenhouse, weather monitoring system and planting media. With this tool, farmers can know exactly when to do weeding and fertilization, with this farmers can get efficiency in production costs and labor," said Irsan.

SmarTernak did the same thing. Still focused on West Java, Smarternak has now started to focus on monetization and implementation.

"In terms of equipment, some are put on cows, some are installed in cages. What is installed in the cage is a temperature sensor and water supply. activity tracking, how long does he eat, how long does he sleep," said Andri.

There is also eFishery, a startup whose business unit is developing an IoT device to make it easier to feed fish and shrimp. This startup has developed tens of thousands of devices installed in fish/shrimp farmer ponds in 120 cities/regencies throughout Indonesia.