Indonesia is testing a more open route for its digital economy, one that could reduce dependence on a small number of dominant platforms. The Indonesia Open Network, or ION, is being positioned as a shared digital infrastructure designed to make access to business activity more even across the market.
The idea is built around a simple shift: treat core digital rails more like public infrastructure and less like closed systems. That approach is intended to lower operating costs, improve transaction efficiency, and give small, medium, and large businesses a better chance to grow on the same footing.
The discussion around ION came up in a meeting involving Danantara CEO Rosan Roeslani, Indian Ambassador to Indonesia Sandeep Chakravorty, and Sachin V Gopalan, who serves on the ION Steering Committee. The group focused on an open Digital Public Infrastructure, or DPI, model as a new foundation for Indonesia’s digital ecosystem.
A major concern behind the push is that virtual markets can be dominated too easily by large platforms. In that kind of environment, smaller businesses often face higher barriers, while the system itself can become rigid, closed, and fragmented.
A public-infrastructure model for digital growth
ION is being shaped around the idea of a digital road that many players can use, rather than a platform that locks in users and data. That framing follows DPI models that have already been used successfully in several countries, especially India.
India is seen as the strongest example because it combined national digital identity with mass instant payment gateways. Indonesia now wants to draw from that experience and adjust the formula to fit its own market conditions.
Rosan Roeslani said Indonesia is entering an important phase of next-generation digital transformation. He stressed that technology progress should not be judged only by the adoption of new apps or devices, but also by how widely the economic benefits are spread.
That perspective gives ION a broader role than e-commerce modernization alone. The project is being linked to a social mission: ensuring that money circulating in the digital economy does not stay concentrated among large players, but also reaches small merchants in other regions.
Why UMKM are central to the plan
The initiative matters because Indonesia remains one of the largest digital markets in Southeast Asia. Even so, the growth of online transactions has not automatically opened the door for UMKM, many of which still struggle with high platform commission fees.
Capital constraints and weak technology literacy remain major obstacles for local entrepreneurs. An open network model like ION is being viewed as a way to provide ready-to-use infrastructure without placing a heavy access burden on smaller businesses.
That is also why the model is being framed as a response to an ecosystem that has often developed in silos. By connecting players through shared infrastructure, the hope is to make the system more flexible and less costly to operate.
Indonesia One as the first test case
Sandeep Chakravorty said initial implementation work for ION is already being prepared. One pilot project highlighted in the discussion is Indonesia One, an integrated mobility application built on open-source code.
The application takes lessons from Nammayatri in India. Through Indonesia One, local transport providers could connect within a single app that offers more flexibility and avoids the kind of commission cuts that can be too burdensome.
Chakravorty also said Danantara has welcomed the prospect of developing this new business model. The investment management body sees the project as a potential source of millions of downstream innovation opportunities if the digital road is eventually rolled out nationally.
For now, the talks are still in an early phase, but they signal a strategic shift in how Indonesia may approach digital sovereignty. In a more competitive global environment, an open and accessible model is being treated as a way to keep digital growth sustainable rather than fragile.
Source: id.mashable.com