Indonesia has launched its first university-based AI technology center, the UGM Indosat NVIDIA AI Technology Center (NVAITC), in Yogyakarta. The center, established under Indonesia’s AI Center of Excellence initiative, aims to develop AI solutions for the country’s most urgent national priorities by bringing together government, industry, and academia. The initiative is part of Indonesia’s broader vision to position itself as a global contributor to AI innovation, not just a consumer of the technology. 'Through initiatives like this, we are laying the foundations of Indonesia’s AI sovereignty and ensuring AI becomes a driver of economic growth, national competitiveness and solutions to Indonesia’s most pressing challenges,' said Meutya Hafid, Indonesia’s Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs. The center will provide researchers and students at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) with access to NVIDIA’s full-stack AI platform and Indosat’s sovereign GPU-as-a-service platform, GPU Merdeka, enabling enterprise-grade computing and AI development tools. 'At Indosat, we believe no Indonesian should be left behind in the AI era,' said Vikram Sinha, president director and CEO of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison. 'Through UGM Indosat NVAITC, we are bringing the best of global AI technologies and expertise to Indonesia, while expanding access for the ecosystem of researchers, students, startups, and innovators across the country.'
The UGM Indosat NVAITC will focus on three key projects: healthcare, agriculture, and natural disaster response. In healthcare, UGM’s Faculty of Medicine Public Health and Nursing team is developing an AI-powered electronic screening technology, eNose-TB, to detect tuberculosis by analyzing breath samples, aiming to provide affordable, fast, and accessible screening in remote areas. In agriculture, the SmartAgri project uses multimodal AI to deliver precision farming solutions for Indonesian terrain and smallholders, helping farmers optimize irrigation and improve yields over time. The Tech4Disaster project is building a geospatial AI platform to process satellite and sensor data for disaster response, providing earlier warnings and better situational awareness for communities and emergency responders. 'Indonesia is home to an extraordinary community of researchers, developers and innovators with the potential to shape the future of AI,' said Marc Hamilton, vice president of solutions architecture and engineering at NVIDIA. 'From healthcare and agriculture to disaster preparedness, the opportunities for AI to drive real change are immense.'
The center is part of Indonesia’s effort to ensure AI development is driven by local talent and solutions. 'As researchers, we have always believed that technology developed in Indonesia can solve Indonesian challenges,' said dr. Dian Kesumapramudya Nurputra, M.Sc, Ph.D, SpA, who leads the eNose-TB project. 'Through the center, access to world-class AI infrastructure and expertise will help us accelerate our research and bring us closer to our dream of developing affordable and accessible healthcare technologies that can improve lives across Indonesia.' The initiative underscores Indonesia’s commitment to leveraging AI for national development, with a focus on creating solutions that are both locally relevant and globally impactful.
Source: nvidia
