Telkom Indonesia (Telkom) has forged a multi-year strategic collaboration with Google Cloud, which will combine the telco carrier’s core competencies with the latter’s capabilities across Android, Google Ads, and Grow with Google.
The collaboration hopes to achieve Telkom’s goal of becoming the leading digital telco in Indonesia that plays an integral role in advancing the government’s Indonesia Digital 2024 roadmap.
The telco carrier wants to help enterprises to seize inclusive growth opportunities in a digital economy that is set to be worth US$130 billion by 2025.
“We have a responsibility to build sustainable, intelligent digital infrastructure and platforms that are accessible to all and contribute to nation building – while facilitating digitalisation across industries,” said Muhamad Fajrin Rasyid, director for digital business at Telkom Indonesia.
He added: “We’re collaborating with strategic partners to help us fulfil this national mandate. Google was chosen for its rich experience in building trusted platforms and ecosystems worldwide.
"Our partnership – which will leverage both organisations’ key advantages – will amplify our ability to create a leading digital ecosystem with the right talent and solutions to deliver value to society, and establish Indonesia as one of the world’s most competitive economies.”
Muhamad Fajrin Rashid, Telkom Indonesia
Accelerating digital transformation and bridging digital talent gap
The collaboration between the two companies covers four strategic areas.
On top of the agenda is accelerating digital transformation across various industries. Towards this end, Google Cloud and Telkomsigma, Telkom’s ICT managed services arm, will partner to accelerate digitalisation in high priority sectors under the Indonesia Digital 2024 roadmap.
Telkomsigma will undertake the implementation of jointly developed infrastructure modernisation, application modernisation, data analytics, and productivity and collaboration solutions to help address specific challenges faced by enterprises and communities.
“It’s imperative that we invest in digital capabilities to reinforce our goal of recovering together and recovering stronger from the impact of the global pandemic, and create an inclusive and sustainable foundation for growth,” said Megawaty Khie, country director, Indonesia, Google Cloud.
Side by side with the expedited road towards digital transformation, the two companies will be working to bridge the national digital talent gap.
Telkom and Google Cloud will establish a Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE) consisting of cloud architecture, edge computing, data management, and application modernisation specialists.
By facilitating internal upskilling and certification programs with the curriculum that Google uses to train its technical specialists across the world, the CCoE will imbue an agile culture across Telkom’s subsidiaries and business units.
To address Indonesia’s intensifying need for advanced digital skills, the CCoE will partner with Telkom CorpU-ITDRI (Indonesia Telecommunications and Digital Research Institute) – a hub for developing digital talent and strengthening organisations’ ability to produce high impact innovations – to offer flexible training programs with Google Career Certificate scholarships.
These programs allow Indonesians to acquire job-ready skills and pursue careers in data analytics, IT support, project management, and user experience (UX) design.
Additionally, Telkom plans to provide mentorship and employment opportunities to graduates from Google’s Bangkit program, which is supported by Indonesia’s Ministry of Education and Culture and equips undergraduates with training in machine learning (ML), cloud computing, and mobile development, along with soft skills to help them secure jobs in in-demand fields and build careers after they graduate.
Empowering Indonesian startups for a global market
Indonesia is home to more than 2,400 startups, making its startup ecosystem the sixth largest in the world.
To help more early-stage startups in Indonesia build and scale their innovative businesses, Telkom’s venture capital subsidiaries will work with the Google for Startups Cloud Program to help connect funded startups with greater technical, business, and financial support.
“Together with Telkom, we aim to nurture a skilled talent pool that is proficient in using cloud and connectivity technologies to create best-in-class solutions. These will be the digital enablers for transforming every industry, whether it’s to deliver citizen-centric public services and equitable health systems, or drive financial inclusion and manufacturing production efficiency."
Megawaty Khie, Google Cloud
Through the Google for Startups Cloud Program , eligible startups can receive up to US$200,000 of Google Cloud and Firebase credits for up to two years. Startups in the program can also receive access to Google Cloud engineers and technical specialists across Google, and be invited to various workshops and events.
Intelligent infrastructure and high-quality digital services
Meanwhile, he CCoE will integrate Google Cloud’s scalable, secure, and carbon neutral cloud infrastructure, and advanced analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) tools with Telkom’s extensive network and connectivity infrastructure to enhance the delivery of high-quality digital services to local consumers in metro and non-metro areas, as well as the enterprise market segment.
Google Cloud intends to explore potential opportunities to use Telkom infrastructure, while Telkom will also explore innovation initiatives with Google’s Android team, in view of developing joint offerings to enrich the customer experience.
