After launching its government-backed crypto exchange, Southeast Asian country Indonesia is becoming a budding crypto hub that aims to be one of the leaders in Web3 technology, according to Indonesian blockchain executives and metaverse.
During the recent crypto events in Dubai, Cointelegraph spoke with Grace Sabandar, the co-founder of the Indonesia Blockchain and Metaverse Center (IBMC) and Tuhu Nugraha, the director of the Indonesia Applied Digital Economy and Regulatory Network (IADERN). The executives discussed the state of digital assets, blockchain and metaverse adoption in Indonesia.
According to Sabandar, the population of 270 million people includes a large percentage of the younger generation, a demographic group that is “adapting to new technology.” The director also pointed out that this gives the country one of the largest user bases in the world when it comes to Web2 social media applications such as Facebook and Instagram.
Grace Sabandar delivers a keynote speech at the Blockchain Economy Summit in Le Meridien Dubai. Source: Cointelegraph
For these reasons, Sabandar told Cointelegraph that the country is poised to be one of the leaders in Web3 adoption. “We want to be the leader, not just the user of technology, because now, thanks to decentralization, everyone can do something, everyone can create something,” she said.
Sabandar also highlighted that at IBMC they have been working with various sectors including government, private sector communities, media and academia to educate the country about Web3. She explained:
“That’s basically our homework. To really educate people about the benefits of using blockchain, about the transparency, about how smart contracts can benefit their businesses, about what decentralization is, things like that.”
Meanwhile, Nugraha, who works as a consultant for the Indonesian government when it comes to its research on blockchain and metaverse technologies, said the government’s approach to Web3 technology is very collaborative.
Tuhu Nugraha with Ezra Reguerra of Cointelegraph (right) in a panel discussion at the Wow Summit at Atlantis, The Royal in Dubai. Source: Joeri Billast
The director told Cointelegraph in an interview that the Indonesian government is working with several blockchain-focused associations to learn and conduct experiments on blockchain technology to understand its implications in different sectors. “They want regulations to encourage innovation, rather than just giving it a bunch of rules,” he explained.
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Nugraha also revealed that the Indonesian government plans to conduct trials on the application of blockchain technology in public service use cases. According to the executive, the government will test the use of blockchain-based digital certificates for land ownership and certificates of competency for the education sector.
The executive believes that, with the inherent characteristics of blockchain, implementing the technology on certificates can potentially combat certificate fraud and help the government verify the authenticity of various types of digital certificates using on-chain data.
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