Indonesia Is The First Country In ASEAN To Complete The UNESCO AI Readiness Assessment

Indonesia has officially become the first country in Southeast Asia to complete the Readiness Assessment Methodology (RAM) for Artificial Intelligence (AI) developed by UNESCO. This achievement was highly praised during a meeting with Gabriela Ramos, the Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences at UNESCO, at the UNESCO office in Paris, France, on Tuesday, February 11, 2025. Nezar Patria, the Deputy Minister of Communication and Digital, stated that this milestone demonstrates Indonesia's readiness for AI governance. He also mentioned that several ASEAN countries have requested Indonesia to share its experience in completing the UNESCO RAM for AI. "We are the first ASEAN country to achieve this, and other ASEAN nations are seeking our assistance and insights," he added.

According to him, the RAM serves as a diagnostic tool to evaluate Indonesia's readiness and governance of AI in the future. "UNESCO continues to support Indonesia in this regard, especially to ensure that the RAM for AI can be a diagnostic tool for assessing future AI governance readiness," he noted. With the completion of the RAM, Indonesia is now working on regulations in the form of a Presidential Regulation (Perpres) or Government Regulation (PP) to ensure better AI governance. "We are currently reviewing whether this regulation should take the form of a Perpres or PP. This will be a follow-up step after the RAM to strengthen AI governance in Indonesia," Nezar explained.

On another note, Indonesia also has the opportunity to host the AI Global South Forum. However, this year, Thailand submitted its proposal first and was selected as the host for the forum organized by UNESCO. "We have offered to host in 2025, but Thailand submitted its proposal earlier. Nevertheless, UNESCO has opened the possibility for Indonesia to host in 2026, and we are considering our readiness for that," Nezar emphasized.

Tag: ASEAN UNESCO AI UNESCO RAM