It is widely believed that we are in the middle of a technological revolution. The dynamic capacity of the internet to connect and transmit information—as well as the evolving nature of devices and infrastructures, owing to digitalisation—has seen new technologies bring rapid change to many parts of the world, including Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, much of the scholarship and debate surrounding the impact of digital technologies remains highly Western-centric.

In Indonesia, digital platforms have been used to organise mass rallies, assist with election monitoring, and generally provide a space for greater freedom of opinion and expression on a variety of issues and events. Digitalisation has impacted the media industry, banks, polling institutes, terrorism networks, disaster relief and city planners, as well as education, employment, political activism, artistic production and much more.

President Jokowi himself recently promoted Indonesia’s capacity for investment in the digital economy during his visit to the White House. Yet digitalisation has seen existing business models thrown into disarray through what scholars describe as ‘disruptive technologies’. But what exactly is the digital economy, and can it live up to its promise? What challenges and opportunities does digitalisation bring to Indonesian governance, politics, policy, culture and society more broadly? How can Indonesia bridge the ‘digital divide’?

The 2016 Indonesia Update will address these and other urgent questions surrounding ‘digital Indonesia’. It will include experts from Australia, Indonesia and around the world, from a range of disciplines, who are researching the impacts of digital technologies. It will also include speakers who are actively involved in developing new digital platforms in Indonesia.

Speakers will include Ainun Nadjib, Onno Purbo, Michelle Ford, Usman Hamid, Emma Baulch and many more.