Bringing the Internet within reach of 100 million Indonesians from 20 kms above Earth

Google Blog, Thursday, October 29, 2015  

In Indonesia today, only about 1 out of every 3 people are connected to the Internet. And even though most of their connections are painfully slow, they’re doing some pretty incredible things. Startups like motorcycle delivery service Go-Jek are building impressive adaptations to Indonesia’s unique challenges, while small businesses like fashionable hijab shop HiJup are using the web to redefine marketplaces.

Still, a majority of Indonesians don’t have access to the educational, cultural, and economic opportunities of the Internet. That’s why we’re pleased to announce that Indonesia’s top three mobile network operators—Indosat, Telkomsel, and XL Axiata—have agreed to begin testing Project Loon balloon-powered Internet over Indonesia in 2016. These tests represent an important step toward bringing all of Indonesia online.

From left to right: Ririek Adriansyah, CEO of Telkomsel; Dian Siswarini, CEO of
XL Axiata; Alexander Rusli, CEO of Indosat; Mike Cassidy, VP of Project Loon;
Sergey Brin, President, Alphabet Inc

Loon balloons act like floating mobile phone towers; flying on the stratospheric winds at altitudes twice as high as commercial planes, each balloon beams an Internet connection down to the ground, and as one drifts out of range, another moves in to take its place. Loon can help telecommunications companies extend their networks; high in the sky, we can help overcome the difficulties of spreading equipment across an archipelago of 17,000 islands of jungles and mountains, providing connectivity to even the most remote islands.

Project Loon balloons travel approximately 20 km above the Earth’s surface in

 the stratosphere. Winds in the stratosphere are stratified, and each layer of wind 

varies in speed and direction. By moving with the wind, the balloons can be 

arranged to form one large communications network

  

Over the next few years, we’re hoping Loon can partner with local providers to put high-speed LTE Internet connections within reach of more than 100 million currently unconnected people—that’s enough speed to read websites, watch videos, or make purchases. From Sabang all the way to Merauke, many of these people live in areas without any existing Internet infrastructure, so we hope balloon-powered Internet could someday help give them access to the information and opportunity of the web.

But it’s not the only step Google is taking toward making the Internet both accessible and useful for people in Indonesia. Android One phones are helping to make high-quality smartphones more accessible in a country where most people first access the Internet on a mobile device. And along with that, we’re working to ease the use of data with features sure as Search Lite, which streamlines search so pages load more quickly, or by optimizing web pages so that they require less data to load. Indonesia is also one of the first countries where YouTube users can take videos offline to watch later during periods of low or no Internet connectivity.

We’re also doing what we can to ensure that language isn’t a barrier to the opportunities of the web. Google Translate was introduced for Bahasa in 2008, and more recently we’ve expanded it to Sundanese, a language that’s spoken by nearly 40 million people living on the island of Java.

Soon we hope many more millions of people in Indonesia will be able to use the full Internet to bring their culture and businesses online and explore the world even without leaving home. And for those of you who’ve never been to this country of rich culture and natural beauty, we invite you to head over to Google Street View to explore the famous temples at Borobudur and Prambanan.

Posted by Mike Cassidy, Vice President, Project Loon

National Electric Car Can Begin Mass Production in 2013: Dahlan

Jakarta Globe, July 16, 2012

Depok Mayor Nurmahmudi Ismail, in the driver’s seat, tests an electric
 car on Jatimulya in Depok in West Java, on Friday. The car, which was
 invented by Depok resident Dasep Ahmadi, reportedly runs 150 kilometers,
 or between four and five hours on a single charge. (Antara Photo/Indrianto
Eko Suwarso)

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State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan said on Monday that the country can begin mass production of the national electric car as early as next year after doing a test drive of its prototype on Monday. 

“If the infrastructure is ready, we can start mass producing the car with a capacity of 5,000 units per year,” he claimed. 

The minister drove the prototype of the Ahmadi Mesin 5.0 electric car, which was named after its maker Dasep Ahmadi, 48 kilometers from its garage at Jati Mulya, on the outskirts of Jakarta, to the Research and Technology Ministry building on Jalan Thamrin in Central Jakarta. 

The prototype so far only has a local police road certificate since regulations on taxes and registrations for electric vehicles, which do not fall under existing categories, have yet to be put in place.

Dahlan said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has already instructed the ministers for industry, research and technology and trade to work on the necessary regulations. 

“Within the next three months, there should be a clear technical guide for commercial regulations, so that the car can be mass produced,” Dahlan said. 

Besides Ahmadi’s electric car, there are four other versions in the final stages of completion under the minibus, city car and sports car categories.

Antara

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Homegrown Electric Car Can Go the Distance: Govt

Ministry eyes desalination technology to mitigate potential water crisis

The Jakarta Post,  Sun, 09/04/2011

The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has developed sea water desalination technology to convert sea water into fresh water to cope with the possibility of a water crisis.

“Making mineral water from the sea is a strategic step in anticipating the possibility of a clean water crisis in the future,” Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad said on Saturday, as reported by kompas.com.

The desalinated water could be a pivotal shift in fresh water supplies. The process could also produce salt.

According to the ministry, Indonesia has several potential locations where this technology could be developed. The areas include Nusa Penida and Gondol in Bali, Lombok Strait in West Nusa Tenggara, Biak Island in Papua and Pelabuhan Ratu in West Java.

Around 70 percent, or 5.8 million kilometers, of Indonesian territory is comprised of water.

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$1m grant up for grabs to develop multimedia

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 07/15/2011

Ford Foundation, in cooperation with Wikimedia Indonesia, ICT Watch and the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), announced Friday that it would be awarding grants worth US$1 million (Rp 8.5 billion) to 30 people or organizations that come up with best practices in innovative ideas to improve media conditions in Indonesia.

“We want to improve Indonesian media through innovative and novel ideas,” Ford Foundation media program officer Heidi Arbuckle said at the program’s launch in South Jakarta on Friday.

Arbuckle said her foundation wanted to try a different way in handing grants.

She said that some foundations were not too open to the public during the selection of grant recipients.

The first selection will be held on Aug.1 to Sept.15, while the announcement of grant recipients will be made on Nov.7.

More information can be found at www.ciptamedia.org. (drs)

London Calling for Young Indonesian Innovators

Jakarta Globe, Sylviana Hamdani, June 27, 2011

From left, UK Ambassador to Indonesia Martin Hatfull; Perdana Karta Yudha,
 national winner in the screen category (2010); Muhammad Lukman, international
 runner-up in the interactive category (2010); and the ambassador’s wife,
Phyllis Hatfull. (Photo courtesy of the British Council)

Sometimes, all you need to do is get two creative people together in the same room and magic will happen. That’s a big part of what the International Young Creative Entrepreneur Awards are all about.

Take, for example, Indonesian fashion designer Oscar Lawalata. In 2009, he won the fashion category at the IYCE Awards. That gave him the opportunity to present his fashion collections and business ideas to British designers in London.

It was there he met renowned textile designer Laura Miles. Laura and Oscar quickly became friends due to her interest in tenun ikat, a hand-woven textile with tie-dye motif from Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, that Oscar brought to London for his visit. She loved the uniquely Indonesian textile so much that she collaborated with Oscar to make a line of clothing using tenun ikat, which was presented at Jakarta Fashion Week in 2010.

“Oscar’s win was quite phenomenal,” said Elsa Sasmita, a program officer for the British Council. “One thing leads to another. We’ve heard that this year, Oscar will also collaborate with famed British milliner [hat designer] Justin Smith, whom he also met during his visit to London.”

Oscar is one of many success stories to come out of the IYCE Awards. Since their inception in 2006, the IYCE Awards have helped highlight and connect more than 650 creative entrepreneurs from Indonesia with UK businesses and industry leaders. The awards have also given Indonesian entrepreneurs global exposure and helped them broaden their international networks.

“The IYCE Awards are designed to develop talented local entrepreneurs,” said Keith Davies, country director of the British Council in Indonesia. “We’ll help them grow their businesses through this program. In return, they’re expected to develop creative industries in Indonesia.”

The IYCE awards honor entrepreneurs from four creative industries — design, fashion, interactive media and film. The British Council has selected three judges for each category of the competition. They are professionals, academics and members of the media. They include Arief Suditomo, editor in chief of TV station RCTI, in the film category, and designer Edward Hutabarat in the fashion category.

This year, the British Council decided to broaden the awards’ age limit, which had required entrants to be between 25 and 35 years old, to between 21 and 40. “We’ve been seeing a lot of qualified applications from beyond those [previous] ages,’’ Elsa said. “That’s why this year we decided to give more opportunities to more people by broadening the age limit.’’

From the 153 applications received this year, the judges have selected 18 finalists. Among them are Affi Assegaf, owner of femaledaily.com, fashionesedaily.com and mommiesdaily.com, who is a finalist in the fashion and interactive media categories; Titis Sapto Raharjo, owner and editor of Movieholic Production, in the film category; and Mufti Alem, owner of Greeneration Indonesia, which produces environmentally friendly products, for the design category.

“I’m very impressed with all the candidates,’’ Arief said. “They’re all highly creative and have brilliant ideas.’’

“Their creativity and business minds are excellent,’’ Edward said. “Some of their products are lacking a sense of cultural identity. This is very important, as that is what gives Indonesian products their competitive edge.”

The finalists will go through one more judging phase from July 3 to 6, during which they will receive business coaching from experts and visit successful entrepreneurs and businesses.

On the final day, the finalists will give a presentation to the judges regarding their products and business concepts.

“They should highlight five key points — entrepreneurship, leadership, innovation, market awareness and international outlook — in their presentations to the judges,’’ Elsa said.

The names of the winners will be announced on July 6 at the IYCE Awards night, which will take place at the Pekan Produk Kreatif Indonesia (Indonesian Creative Product Week) at the Jakarta Convention Center. The winner in each category will get a seven-day, all-expenses-paid visit to the UK to inspire them with new ideas and introduce them to industry leaders and possible business partners.

“This is what Indonesian entrepreneurs need now,” Edward said. “We have to build on our international outlook. The UK is the place to do that because they have many international artists who can open doors for our local industries, allowing them to reach the global market.”

This year, the winner of the fashion category will attend London Fashion Week in September, while the winner of the design category will attend the London Design Festival, also in September. The winner of the film category will attend the London Film Festival in October, and the winner of the interactive media category will attend the Power to the Pixel workshop the same month.

“We’ve also designed specific programs as well as prearranged meetings and special events in which the winners will meet people in the creative industries in UK,” Elsa said. “They can present their ideas and products to these people and perhaps build the foundations for future collaborations.”

“We hope to become a bridge between the UK and local Indonesian businesses,” Davies said. “We want to develop Indonesian creative businesses to grow in the international market.”

Edward was upbeat about the future. “All of these industries are fueled by our minds, a resource that will never deplete or run out.”

 

For more information on the IYCE Awards 2011, visit www.thebritishcouncil.org.

Taiwan firm to make paper from rice, wheat stalks

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press, Taiwan | Sat, 01/15/2011

A leading Taiwanese paper company expect to begin mass producing paper pulp made of rice and wheat stalks this year, a newspaper reported Saturday.

Yuen Foong Yu Group collaborated with Taiwanese universities in developing the bio-technology, Chairman Ho Shou-chuan told the Economic Daily News.

It's a cheaper and greener process because more paper pulp can be produced from rice stalks - farming byproducts that are usually dumped - than from the same amount of lumber by weight.

Ho said he hoped the new technology could replace existing chemical processes that are highly polluting and require cutting down massive numbers of trees.

The new pulp-making technology will use energy more efficiently and produce much less carbon dioxide during manufacturing, he added.

Yuen Foong Yu has been making industrial paper in Yangzhou City in eastern China. Last year, it invested $8 million to set up a new factory there to make the bio paper pulp, the newspaper said.

Production is expected to begin during the second half of this year, he added.

The group's spokesperson could not be reached for comment on Saturday.

The Yuen Foong Yu Group also owns Taiwan's E Ink Holdings Inc., which supplies global e-reader makers such as Amazon Inc. with electronic paper.

Indosat, ITB join hands to develop mobile apps innovations

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 01/08/2011

Indonesia’s second largest cellular operator, PT Indosat, is teaming up with the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in mobile applications development in an attempt to encourage innovations in technology among youths and to produce new experts in the industry.

Indosat director and chief wholesale and infrastructure officer Fadzri Sentosa signed in Bandung on Saturday a memorandum of understanding on the new partnership with ITB deputy rector Hasanuddin Z. Abidin.

“This partnership will serve as a positive and effective collaboration in the development of mobile applications for the campus community and the young generation in general,” Fadzri said as quoted by Antara.

He added that the partnership was also expected to produce new experts in mobile technology.

As part of the partnership, an Indosat Innovation Lab will be built in the West Java capital.

“It will serve as a place where they (young innovators to-be) can experiment and have intensive discussions,” Fadzri said.

Hasanuddin, meanwhile, said the new partnership was ITB’s third with Indosat.

Researchers Turn Common Indonesian Plant Into Alternative Fuel

Jakarta Globe, Ismira Lutfia | January 07, 2011     

In an effort to wean rural communities off inefficient and costly kerosene, Indonesian researchers have developed an alternative fuel from a common plant.

Researchers say the fruit of the bintaro can be used to
 make an oil that may be able to replace kerosene.  

The new fuel is derived from the seed of the sea mango tree (Cerbera manghas), known locally as bintaro.

Aris Purwanto, head of the research team at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), said the idea came after rising kerosene prices in the Teluk Meranti area of the Riau Islands forced villagers to switch to burning wood for cooking.

“The bintaro tree grows all year round and a tree of at least three years of age can produce an average of 300 to 400 fruit a year,” Aris said during a presentation on Wednesday.

To extract the bintaro oil, researchers removed the seeds from the ripened fruit, then dried and crushed them. Aris said 2.9 kilograms of seed yielded one liter of oil.

In an interesting aside, he said the seed kernels contain the toxic substance cerberin, which is often used by local farmers to poison wild animal pests that damage their crops.

“Even in its raw phase, the oil can be used to fuel an electricity generator,” Aris said.

But the researchers experimented further, refining the oil by mixing it with water and storing it until an oil-water dispersion was achieved.

This refined oil, they said, can be used to fuel a fire, such as in a kerosene stove.

However, Aris said that because it had a much higher viscosity than kerosene or diesel, and hence different combustion properties, stoves and generators would have to be modified slightly to ensure the oil worked.

The viscosity difference means that the bintaro oil is too thick to vaporize into a flammable spray, as required in the combustion chamber of a kerosene stove or diesel-powered generator.

To use it to power a generator, for instance, a converter must first be used to heat the oil to 70 degrees Celsius to lower its viscosity to the level of diesel.

Even then, the generator needs to have been running for four to five minutes on diesel before the bintaro oil can be added to the external tank and the diesel supply shut off.

Aris acknowledged bintaro oil could not yet be classified as a biofuel, and was not yet a viable replacement for conventional fossil fuels.

He said that with only four months of development behind it, more research and processing was needed before bintaro oil could viably generate sufficient power to fuel heavier machinery such as motor vehicles.

In the meantime, he said, it is sufficient for basic cooking needs such as boiling water or cooking rice, allowing it to take over some of the role of kerosene.

“We aim to develop this as an alternative energy source for people in remote areas, so that they’re not overly dependent on kerosene,” he said .

He added that bintaro trees were common in many rural areas and relatively easy to grow, making it easy for villagers to collect the necessary seeds.

The tree is also frequently used in greening projects in residential areas across the country .

Marzuki Effendi, one of the Teluk Meranti villagers who attended Wednesday’s presentation, said that bintaro-fueled stoves produced an intense blue flame that brought water to the boil in just four minutes.

With kerosene, he said, boiling water took eight minutes.

Marzuki said another downside to kerosene was its high cost.

The fuel typically costs Rp 6,000 to Rp 8,000 (66 to 88 cents) per liter in the area, he said.

Kerosene distributed to the public is supposed to be subsidized by the government, although distributors almost invariably charge a commission on sales.

In addition to being expensive, it is increasingly difficult to source, a result of the government’s plan to replace it with liquefied petroleum gas.

However, the kerosene-to-gas campaign has concentrated largely on urban areas, with many rural communities yet to receive the free liquefied petroleum gas stoves and canisters that are part of the program.

TEDx Again Inspires Indonesia With Raft of Innovative Ideas

Jakarta Globe, Ulma Haryanto | December 19, 2010      

Jakarta. Participants of the sixth TEDx Jakarta conference were mesmerized on Sunday by inspiring presentations on a range of topics by a digital inventor, a designer and an educator, among others.

Anies Baswedan, rector of Paramadina University,
 gave an update of Indonesia Mengajar (Indonesia Teaches),
a program that sends young high achievers to isolated
 regions across the archipelago to teach for a year.
(Photo courtesy of DDB Indonesia)    

TEDx Jakarta is a local version of the Technology, Entertainment and Design conference based in California.

The event at Usmar Ismail Hall in Kuningan, South Jakarta, was the second such event for the year, TEDx Jakarta’s co-curator Lalitia Apsari told the Jakarta Globe.

She added that TEDx Jakarta events are held three to four times annually.

On Sunday, Chandra Tresnadi, winner of the 2010 Indonesian ICT award (Inaicta) for his interactive, multiplayer batik Internet game, showed his invention on a large touch-screen display.

“The idea was to create a game that would promote social interaction and participation as well as communication with strangers,” he said.

Chandra also said he wanted to present batik to the public in a very accessible way.

Adi Panuntun, whose video-mapping project at Fatahillah Museum in West Jakarta in March drew 50,000 visitors, was also invited to speak.

“At the time [of the Fatahillah project] I found a challenge in the quest for public space in Jakarta. And since my background is design, I saw [and presented] things differently,” he said.

Back in March, Adi made a documentary about Jakarta and projected it on the facade of the Fatahillah Museum.

“In the film, the museum was the actor. I used the building to tell a story,” he said, adding that he called the technique “video mapping.”

Rene Suhardono, career coach and author of “Your Job is Not Your Career,” urged attendants to reconsider their conceptualization of happiness and passion.

“I would like to challenge everyone here to do 21 different things every day and write or tweet about it,” he said.

Betti Alisjahbana, former chief executive of IBM, talked about ITB Untuk Semua (ITB for All), a scholarship that also offers soft skills courses.

Anies Baswedan, rector of Paramadina University gave an update of Indonesia Mengajar (Indonesia Teaches), a program that sends young high achievers to isolated regions across the archipelago to teach for a year.

“Those on the front-line of education — the teachers — are crucial. That’s why we send these young people, to lead and to inspire,” Anies said.

Also addressing the event was Irma Windi Lubis and a group of 10 children from Sanggar Roda, an organization in East Jakarta, that gives youngsters non-formal education and moral support with the help of music.

The event organizers said they had to work hard to find a diverse group of speakers on various topics, which is the prime characteristic of all TED events.

“There are a lot of inspirational speakers we would like to invite, but aside from big names we also want to introduce those who are less familiar,” Lalitia said.

Arief Aziz, Karina Sigar and Kartika Anindya were longtime fans of TED videos — available on YouTube — and after they found out that TED launched TEDx, they immediately contacted the California committee.

“The first three events [we organized] were held for 80 attendants, where we would watch TED videos together and invited several speakers. But we got requests to hold a bigger event,” Arief told the Globe. The current event is their sixth.

Anton, 27, works in advertising and Sunday marked his first visit to TEDx Jakarta.

“I’ve been subscribing to TED videos since college and was excited to know similar events are held here,” he said, adding that he hoped more speakers from other disciplines would attend.

“An astronomer for instance — topics that are outside of the mainstream,” he added.

Atten Dhaniel, 22, went to TEDx for the first time after his teacher talked about the videos. After attending the third event, he decided to offer his services as a volunteer.

Dhaniel believes TEDx events have great educational value.

“My favorite was the talk on nanotechnology,” he said.

Edison, a business analyst for an oil company in his late 20s, was upbeat about his first TEDx experience.

“The atmosphere is very energizing, young, and creative. I am excited to listen to all speakers,” he said.