Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Kemkomdigi), Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, NVIDIA and Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) officially launched the UGM Indosat NVIDIA AI Technology Center (NVAITC) on August 13, marking the country’s first university-based AI technology center.
Established as part of the Indonesia AI Center of Excellence (AI CoE) initiative, UGM Indosat NVAITC brings government, global technology leaders, industry, and academia together to accelerate applied AI research in Indonesia’s priority sectors.
A partnership years in the making
The collaboration progressed through several key milestones, beginning with organization governance initiation in July 2025, followed by the signing of a Letter of Intent in early 2026, and culminating in the inauguration of UGM Indosat NVAITC on August 13, 2026.
Indonesia’s Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs Meutya Hafid said: “The Indonesia AI Center of Excellence reflects our long-term vision to position Indonesia as a nation that not only adopts AI, but also develops and contributes AI innovations to the world. 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.”
Platform and infrastructure
The center is powered by NVIDIA’s full-stack AI platform and GPU Merdeka, Indosat’s sovereign GPU-as-a-Service platform, giving UGM’s researchers and students access to enterprise-grade accelerated computing, AI software, pretrained models, development frameworks, technical mentorship, training, and industry collaboration.
Marc Hamilton, NVIDIA’s vice president of solutions architecture and engineering, said the company would equip Indonesian researchers with leading open models and expertise to turn that potential into innovation with local and global impact.
Vikram Sinha, president director and CEO of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, said: “At Indosat, we believe no Indonesian should be left behind in the AI era. 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.”
Three flagship research projects
UGM Indosat NVAITC will serve as a research hub for developing applied AI solutions, initially focusing on strategic areas aligned with Indonesia’s national priorities. The first three projects are eNose-TB, an AI-powered screening technology designed to support Indonesia’s fight against tuberculosis; SmartAgri, which leverages multimodal AI, edge computing and precision farming technologies to improve productivity and resilience in tropical agriculture; and Tech4Disaster, a geospatial AI platform that enhances disaster prediction, preparedness and response capabilities.
SmartAgri combines satellite imagery, sensor data and local agricultural knowledge with edge computing to deliver precision farming suited to Indonesian terrain, crops and smallholders.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, facing significant natural disaster risk. Tech4Disaster is building a geospatial AI platform to process satellite and sensor data at speed, giving communities and emergency responders earlier warning and faster coordination tools when disaster strikes.
Broader significance for AI startups and talent
UGM Rector Prof. Ova Emilia said the university is committed to supporting Indonesia’s AI ambitions through education, research and innovation. She noted that the center expands access to advanced AI infrastructure and global expertise for students and researchers, while strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration in strategic areas such as healthcare, agriculture and disaster resilience.
The center will also connect Indonesian researchers “to a worldwide ecosystem of expertise, fostering international collaboration, knowledge exchange, and the development of AI solutions with real-world impact.”
Indonesia is the world’s fourth-most populous country, with researchers and developers working on problems of scale and urgency. The NVAITC launch follows a broader wave of NVIDIA partnerships across Southeast Asia as the company deepens its presence in emerging markets, with the center positioned as a long-term national asset rather than a one-off academic collaboration.
The full announcement is available on the NVIDIA blog, with additional detail published by Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison.
