The Political Mandate: Indosat’s Vikram Sinha on Why Government Will is the Key to Indonesia’s Digital Network

JAKARTA, Investortrust.id — For Vikram Sinha, the Chief Executive Officer of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, the sheer scale of Indonesia’s small business sector is not just a statistic; it is a force larger than many neighboring nations.

Speaking at the 12th annual Indonesia Economic Forum, Sinha noted that Indonesia’s 60 million micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) represent a population greater than many individual countries in Southeast Asia.

With these businesses accounting for 95% of national employment and over 60% of the country’s GDP, Sinha argued that the nation’s future is inextricably linked to their success, stating that "for Indonesia to be strong... we need a strong theme".

However, the path to empowering these millions of entrepreneurs through the newly launched Indonesia Open Network (ION) is not merely a matter of deploying the right code.

Drawing on the success of India’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), Sinha delivered a pointed message to the gathered policymakers regarding the necessity of political will. He observed that ONDC’s success in India was largely due to the fact that "Prime Minister Modi put a weight behind it".

In Sinha’s view, the implementation of a decentralized network is a direct challenge to established inefficiencies, noting that "it is not about technology, it is about fighting corruption, it is about fighting middlemen, it is about fighting friction".

Sinha warned that without a "personal mandate of the highest level in the government," ambitious digital public infrastructure projects are often doomed to short lifespans. He cautioned the audience that "if there is not full mandate of government from the top these kind of things will fizzle out within 6 to 9 month".

This high-level stewardship is essential because an open network disrupts traditional "walled gardens" and entrenched intermediaries who benefit from the current fragmented market. For Indonesia to move beyond connectivity and into true digital empowerment, the government must treat the network as a national priority rather than a secondary technical initiative.

Indosat itself is repositioning its role within this evolving landscape, moving from a traditional connectivity provider to a facilitator of "intelligence to the edge".

Sinha detailed how the company is working with Nvidia to create an AI grid, utilizing sovereign GPU power to bring sophisticated decision-making tools to rural areas. He highlighted the unique position of telecommunications companies in this transition, asserting that "Telco is the only entity... who is sovereign who can take intelligence to the edge".

By taking this intelligence to the villages, the goal is to solve local problems, such as helping rural doctors take life-saving decisions through AI-enhanced data.

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The collaboration between Indonesia and India on these open protocols represents a shared vision for the Global South, focusing on the "poorest" participants in the economy. Sinha expressed confidence that the same digital frameworks that benefited the underserved in India will do the same in the Indonesian archipelago if the leadership remains committed.

As the country works toward its "Golden Vision 2045," the focus remains on building an inclusive architecture that ensures the benefits of the digital economy reach every village. As Sinha concluded, the time has come for both nations to work together to ensure that technology serves as a tool for national strength and social equity.