Indonesia Partners with NVIDIA, Cisco, Indosat for Sovereign AI Progress

Published Date : 12/7/2025 

Indonesia is making significant strides towards its 'Golden 2045 Vision' by establishing an AI Center of Excellence with NVIDIA, Cisco, and Indosat. This initiative aims to enhance digital technologies, foster local talent, and drive innovation across industries. 

As one of the world’s largest emerging markets, Indonesia is making strides toward its “Golden 2045 Vision” — an initiative tapping digital technologies and bringing together government, enterprises, startups, and higher education to enhance productivity, efficiency, and innovation across industries.

Building out the nation’s AI infrastructure is a crucial part of this plan. That’s why Indonesian telecommunications leader Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) has partnered with Cisco and NVIDIA to support the establishment of Indonesia’s AI Center of Excellence (CoE). Led by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs (Komdigi), the CoE aims to advance secure technologies, cultivate local talent, and foster innovation through collaboration with startups.

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison President Director and CEO Vikram Sinha, Cisco Chair and CEO Chuck Robbins, and NVIDIA Senior Vice President of Telecom Ronnie Vasishta detailed the purpose and potential of the CoE during a fireside chat at Indonesia AI Day, a conference focused on how artificial intelligence can fuel the nation’s digital independence and economic growth.

As part of the CoE, a new NVIDIA AI Technology Center will offer research support, NVIDIA Inception program benefits for eligible startups, and NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute training and certification to upskill local talent.

“With the support of global partners, we’re accelerating Indonesia’s path to economic growth by ensuring Indonesians are not just users of AI, but creators and innovators,” Sinha added.

“The AI era demands fundamental architectural shifts and a workforce with digital skills to thrive,” Robbins said. “Together with Indosat, NVIDIA, and Komdigi, Cisco will securely power the AI Center of Excellence — enabling innovation and skills development, and accelerating Indonesia’s growth.”

“Democratizing AI is more important than ever,” Vasishta added. “Through the new NVIDIA AI Technology Center, we’re helping Indonesia build a sustainable AI ecosystem that can serve as a model for nations looking to harness AI for innovation and economic growth.”

The Indonesia AI CoE will comprise an AI factory that features full-stack NVIDIA AI infrastructure — including NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs, NVIDIA Cloud Partner reference architectures, and NVIDIA AI Enterprise software — as well as an intelligent security system powered by Cisco. Called the Sovereign Security Operations Center Cloud Platform, the Cisco-powered system combines AI-based threat detection, localized data control, and managed security services for the AI factory.

Building on the sovereign AI initiatives Indonesia’s technology leaders announced with NVIDIA last year, the CoE will bolster the nation’s AI strategy through four core pillars:

1. Sovereign Infrastructure: Establishing AI infrastructure for secure, scalable, high-performance AI workloads tailored to Indonesia’s digital ambitions.

2. Secure AI Workloads: Using Cisco’s intelligent infrastructure to connect and safeguard the nation’s digital assets and intellectual property.

3. AI for All: Giving hundreds of millions of Indonesians access to AI by 2027, breaking down geographical barriers and empowering developers across the nation.

4. Talent and Development Ecosystem: Aiming to equip 1 million people with digital skills in networking, security, and AI by 2027.

Some 28 independent software vendors and startups are already using IOH’s NVIDIA-powered AI infrastructure to develop cutting-edge technologies that can speed and ease workflows across higher education and research, food security, bureaucratic reform, smart cities and mobility, and healthcare.

With Indosat’s coverage across the archipelago, the company can reach hundreds of millions of Bahasa Indonesian speakers with its large language model (LLM)-powered applications. For example, using Indosat’s Sahabat-AI collection of Bahasa Indonesian LLMs, the Indonesia government and Hippocratic AI are collaborating to develop an AI agent system that provides preventative outreach capabilities, such as helping women subscribers over the age of 50 schedule a mammogram. This can help prevent or combat breast cancer and other health complications across the population.

Separately, Sahabat-AI also enables Indosat’s AI chatbot to answer queries in the Indonesian language for various citizen and resident services. A person could ask about processes for updating their national identification card, as well as about tax rates, payment procedures, deductions, and more.

In addition, a government-led forum is developing trustworthy AI frameworks tailored to Indonesian values for the safe, responsible development of artificial intelligence and related policies.

Looking forward, Indosat and NVIDIA plan to deploy AI-RAN technologies that can reach even broader audiences using AI over wireless networks. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS): 

Q: What is the 'Golden 2045 Vision'?

A: The 'Golden 2045 Vision' is Indonesia's initiative to leverage digital technologies, enhance productivity, efficiency, and innovation across industries, and achieve significant economic growth by the year 2045.

Q: What is the AI Center of Excellence (CoE) in Indonesia?

A: The AI Center of Excellence (CoE) is a collaboration between the Indonesian government, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, Cisco, and NVIDIA. It aims to advance secure technologies, cultivate local talent, and foster innovation through AI.

Q: What is the role of NVIDIA in the AI CoE?

A: NVIDIA is providing full-stack AI infrastructure, research support, and training programs through its AI Technology Center to support the development and democratization of AI in Indonesia.

Q: How is Cisco contributing to the AI CoE?

A: Cisco is contributing by providing an intelligent security system, the Sovereign Security Operations Center Cloud Platform, which ensures the security and integrity of AI workloads and digital assets.

Q: What is the significance of the Sahabat-AI collection of Bahasa Indonesian LLMs?

A: The Sahabat-AI collection of Bahasa Indonesian LLMs is significant because it enables AI applications to communicate in the local language, making AI more accessible and useful for millions of Indonesian speakers in various services and healthcare initiatives. 

More Related Topics :