Fast Wi-fi and e-commerce: Southeast Asian cities need smart solutions but connection speeds and security issues present challenges

There are an estimated 350 million internet users in the region and about 3 million are going online for the first time each month since 2015, according to a new report by Google and Singapore investment firm Temasek Holdings

Reading Time:3 minutes

An Indonesian worker holds a mobile phone inside a train in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2016. The prevalence of mobile technology in Southeast Asia has raised concerns about affordability of high-speed internet. Photo: EPA

Published: 10:45pm, 20 Nov 2018Updated: 3:20pm, 21 Nov 2018

Most residents of Banyuwangi’s 189 villages, in Indonesia’s east Java, have access to free internet as part of a government initiative to boost local economic development.

Under the “Smart Kampung” – or “smart village” – scheme started two years ago, the population of about 1 million has been able to access public services online and get technical training so entrepreneurs can sell products over the internet.

Banyuwangi is an example of how greater connectivity can boost productivity and the livelihoods of urban residents across the 10 Asean nations, Indonesian diplomat Dino Patti Djalal said on Tuesday.

“In the area, poverty has fallen from 24 per cent to 8 per cent in the past four to five years,” said Dino at a forum in Hong Kong that brought together experts to discuss how Asean, Hong Kong and mainland China are working on smart city projects.

Asean countries have doubled down on efforts to harness technology to overcome the challenges of rising urbanisation, such as congestion, security, and water and air quality.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x