The start-up ecosystem in the Indonesian island of Batam will be receiving a boost as Indonesian organisations have announced a series of Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) to support its growth.
According to a recent report, the core focus of these MoUs is to provide programme initiatives to develop an ecosystem that will improve on skills that people can use to work in the IT sector.
A total of 13 MoUs were signed with universities and educational institutions by the Citramas Group, an Indonesian conglomerate; Nongsa Digital Park (NDP); and Infinite Studios, a media and creative services company.
The Nongsa Digital Park is a multimillion dollar technology park, which officially opened in Batam last 20 March 2018, according to this article.
Both the Foreign Affairs Ministers of Indonesia and Singapore were in attendance during its opening.
It aimed to bring together digital entrepreneurs from the region, including Singapore, to an environment where its developers hope they can “work, live and play”.
The Digital Park is profiling itself as the destination ecosystem for different stakeholders within the digital economy.
It does not only offer its physical infrastructure, but it also boasts of its talent. The talent in Indonesia should be recognised and be given skills enhancement activities.
In order to achieve this, the MoUs were signed. These MoUs will kick-start various cooperation initiatives with educational institutions within Indonesia as well as those outside of it.
The long term plan for the Digital Park is for it to grow into an international hub where collaboration from different organisations can help translate available talent into skills for jobs.
Among the 13 MoUs signed, two institutions are from Singapore, one is from China, and another one is from the United Kingdom.
Here are some of the MoUs signed, in order to understand and gain more insight into their nature.
The conglomerate and the City of Batam signed a MoU that will be funding industrial certification in Kabil, which is a town on the island.
A deal was made with the Institut Teknologi Batam (ITEBA) to open a training facility inside the digital park.
A MoU was reached among Singapore’s Temasek Polytechnic, a blockchain company called LabsXF, and NDP for the facilitation and collaboration of exploratory programmes.
The media and creative services company’s MoU with Singapore’s Nanyang Polytechnic revolves around internship opportunities as well as staff and student visits and workshops.
This 2018 signing carries on with a relationship that had begun in 2015. This relationship had resulted with students producing CG-animated projects that actually get broadcasted on global television networks.
Batam is an Indonesian island situated south of Singapore and Johor, which can be reached at about an hour’s ride via ferry.
Its geographic location allows companies to tap into the Indonesian economy, while still having easy access to the nearby countries of Malaysia and Singapore.
The complete list of the institutions involved in the MoUs can be found here.