Page 10 - KLIPINGBELMAWA12062019SORE

Facing a similar shortage, Tokopedia, a rival e-marketplace, opened in March its own AI research center at the computer science faculty of the University of Indonesia (UI) campus in Depok.
The company did not disclose how much it invested either, but it had secured $1.1 billion in a Series G funding round led by China’s Alibaba Group and Japan’s SoftBank in November last year.
According to Ignatius Untung, chairman of the Indonesian E-commerce Association (idEA), the shortage of local digital talent was so acute that many companies resorted to poaching employees. Thus, the tech industry’s annual turnover rate averages 19.22 percent, almost double the rule-of-thumb limit of 10 percent.
Minister Rudiantara addressed the shortfall by pledging up to $9 million to help more than 20 local universities train 20,000 digital talents by year-end. The universities include, among others, ITB, Gadjah Mada University and UI. UI also signed a memorandum of understanding this year with ride-hailing rivals Grab Indonesia and Go-Jek.
Grab Indonesia launched in May an Engineering Talent Future Leader internship program, which allows UI students to apply for internships at either Grab’s Jakarta or Singapore offices for between six and nine months.
“The government cannot do everything by itself,” said Grab managing director Neneng Goenadi. “We are even thinking about creating a [longer] internship program for Indonesians, whether fresh graduates or workers who are eager to learn. We’re thinking the program will be about one or two years.”
She said that Grab also provided some raw data for partner universities to practice with and, hopefully, create usable solutions. The cost of the collaboration is part of Grab’s three-year $700 million investment to expand the country’s digital economy.
Rival Go-Jek signed its memorandum with UI in April. The company, which prides itself as a homegrown unicorn, pledges exclusive internships, joint studies and priority recruitment for UI students.
Go-Jek chief of corporate affairs Nila Marita described the collaboration as “a special opportunity for us to develop local talents who can compete on a global level”.
Bukalapak’s Bima said that, looking forward, he expected even more tech companies to partner with local universities, particularly ITB and UI, in capturing digital talents.