Indonesia Open Network to Expand Digital Economy Access: Ilham Habibie

JAKARTA, Investortrust.id — The Indonesia Open Network, or ION, a foundational digital layer for e-commerce, is designed to expand digital economic inclusion by building low cost public digital infrastructure through knowledge transfer from India, a move expected to broaden access for millions of Indonesians, Ilham A Habibie, the chairman of the Indonesian Engineers Association said on Thursday, Feb 5, 2026 in Jakarta.

The chairman of the Indonesian Engineers Association explained that the initiative sought to replicate the impact of Indonesia’s national QR code payment system by making digital access simple, affordable, and widely usable across society.

ION is not a standalone app but a form of digital public infrastructure that sets shared protocols and standards for digital trade. It uses open network technology to let buyer apps, seller apps, and logistics providers interoperate across platforms.

By decoupling discovery, ordering, payments, and fulfillment, ION will allow users on one app to transact with sellers on another, similar to how Bank Indonesia's QRIS works for payments.

“Speaking about the Indonesia Open Network, I think many people already have an idea of what this will become, but you need to imagine it like the revolution of Indonesia’s payment system through QRIS. It is very easy and everyone can use it at low cost,” Ilham said during the ION curtain raiser event at the Indonesia Economic Forum 2026 at Artotel Mangkuluhur, Central Jakarta, on Thursday.

He said learning from India was crucial because the country had emerged as a global pioneer in developing digital public infrastructure over the past decade.

“Indonesia wants to do something that has been done before in other countries. That is why we see a strong presence from another very large country, namely India. India, years ago, pioneered an idea known as digital public infrastructure,” Ilham said.

Ilham added that digital public infrastructure aimed to deliver technology at the lowest possible cost so it could be used by as many people as possible, while still being adapted to Indonesia’s domestic needs.

“We are not simply copying, but trying to learn from India’s experience and then bring our own solutions on what it means to empower as many Indonesians as possible by using technology to improve their quality of life,” he said.

He highlighted the central role of micro, small, and medium enterprises, noting that Indonesia had more than 60 million MSMEs, accounting for nearly 20 percent of the population.

“You can imagine that one in five Indonesians is involved in MSMEs. If we empower this group alone, we are already talking about a very large part of our population,” Ilham said.

Ilham stressed that the Indonesia Open Network was not solely aimed at commercial interests but also at education and digital literacy to ensure people could fully benefit from technology.

“If we talk about digital technology, literacy is a key point. People need to understand how to use it and how to benefit from it for transactions, education, and even healthcare services,” he said.

He concluded that the digital economy had become an inseparable part of Indonesia’s national economy, with almost all sectors now containing digital components either directly or indirectly.

“Today it is difficult to imagine that anything we do does not have a digital element,” said the eldest son of Indonesia’s third president, BJ Habibie.