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"Indonesia is gearing up to launch a new national digital commerce infrastructure aimed at democratizing access to digital markets and accelerating economic inclusion for small businesses across the archipelago. The Indonesia Economic Forum (IEF) announced today that it will host the “Curtain Raiser on Indonesia Open Network (ION)” on 5 February 2026 at Mangkuluhur ARTOTEL in Jakarta. The event, part of the 12th Annual Indonesia Economic Forum themed “The Digital Archipelago: Building Inclusive Digital Commerce Ecosystem,” will bring together senior government officials, global digital ecosystem leaders, and industry stakeholders.
The forum began with a welcoming address by Sachin V. Gopalan, CEO & Founder of Indonesia Economic Forum, who emphasized that Indonesia’s challenge today is no longer merely physical connectivity, but truly inclusive digital connectivity. “Digital infrastructure today is not just about speed or scale, but about inclusion, interoperability, and trust. ION is not a single platform, but a network of networks,” said Sachin. This was followed by a series of introductory speeches framed as a cross-sectoral vision dialogue. Dr. Ilham A. Habibie, Chairman of PII (Indonesian Engineers Association), stressed that Indonesia needs aligned technical and policy ecosystems to ensure digital innovation has real impact on national industry. In line with this, Suresh Sethi, Managing Director & CEO of Protean (India), highlighted the importance of open standards and interoperability in accelerating digital economic adoption, noting that Indonesia has significant potential to leapfrog by learning from India’s experience. From the digital infrastructure perspective, Siddharth Prakash, Head of Product Strategy for Emerging Markets at Google Cloud, emphasized that open networks like ION would accelerate data- and AI-driven technology adoption for MSMEs, not only large corporations. Meanwhile, Vikram Sinha, CEO of Indosat, underscored that equitable connectivity is a fundamental prerequisite to ensure that the benefits of ION reach even the most remote regions of the Indonesian archipelago. ION as the Foundation of Indonesia’s Digital Economy
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Enhanced digital highway will boost GDP and empower 2nd and 3rd tier cities Jakarta, 27 January 2026 — Indonesia is gearing up to launch a new national digital commerce infrastructure aimed at democratizing access to digital markets and accelerating economic inclusion for small businesses across the archipelago.
The Indonesia Economic Forum (IEF) announced today that it will host the “Curtain Raiser on Indonesia Open Network (ION)” on 5 February 2026 at Mangkuluhur ARTOTEL in Jakarta. The event, part of the 12th Annual Indonesia Economic Forum themed “The Digital Archipelago: Building Inclusive Digital Commerce Ecosystem,” will bring together senior government officials, global digital ecosystem leaders, and industry stakeholders. The ceremony will be inaugurated by H.E. Maman Abdurrahman, Indonesia’s Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and will feature high-profile panel discussions on financial services, logistics, and digital innovation, followed by a press conference.
ION: A New Model for Inclusive Commerce
ION is conceived as an open, interoperable digital public infrastructure (DPI) designed to facilitate seamless connectivity among buyer applications, seller systems, logistics platforms, payment services, and other digital services—without locking participants into a single marketplace or proprietary platform. It aims to reduce fragmentation and create a neutral digital commerce layer that enables MSMEs, cooperatives, smallholders, artisans, and local enterprises to engage in the digital economy more equitably and at scale. Unlike traditional e-commerce platforms that operate as closed marketplaces, open networks like ION use shared technical protocols and governance frameworks to enable interoperability across systems and services.
Global Precedents and Comparable Models
Indonesia’s push for an open commerce network draws inspiration from global advancements in digital public infrastructure and open-network commerce, particularly India’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), launched in 2021. ONDC was designed to break down silos among e-commerce platforms by enabling buyers and sellers to transact seamlessly across multiple applications and services using shared open protocols.
Over its first four years, ONDC has facilitated hundreds of millions of transactions and expanded beyond retail into mobility, logistics, and financial services. This expansion has helped small traders gain broader market access while fostering greater competition with established platforms.
A recent report tracking MSMEs in Tier II and Tier III Indian cities found that businesses experienced an average 20% increase in revenue after onboarding onto the ONDC network demonstrating how open digital market access can translate into tangible economic gains for small sellers.
ONDC is part of a broader suite of Indian digital public infrastructure systems, commonly referred to as India Stack. This ecosystem includes open systems for digital identity verification, payments, document repositories, and secure data sharing.
The launching ceremony of ION (Indonesia Open Network) with H.E. Maman Abdurahman, Indonesia’s Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs); H.E Sandeep Chakravorty, India Ambassador to Indonesia; Mr. Sachin Gopalan, CEO of Indonesia Economic Forum; Mr. Nezar Patria, Vice Minister of Communications and Digital Affairs Republic of Indonesia; Mrs. Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, Chairman APINDO, Coordinating Vice Chair, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Mr. Ilham Habibie, Chief Executive, National ICT Council, Chairman Indonesian Engineers Association & Chairman ICC Indonesia; Mr. Vikram Sinha, CEO Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison; Mr. T Koshy, Founding MD & CEO, ONDC India & Former ED, NSDL; Dr. Ram Sewak Sharma, Former Chairman, ONDC India, Former Chairman TRAI, Former DG Adhaar Project (UIDAI); Mrs. Rani Burchmore, Chairman, ASEAN Youth for Digital Action, Global AWS Education Programs Principal APJC; Ronald Walla, Head of MSME for APINDO, President Director of Wismilak Group and Dr. Bayu Prawira Hie, Digital Transformation Expert, Executive Director, Intellectual Business Community
Looking Ahead
With ION, Indonesia is positioning itself at the forefront of a new generation of digital commerce infrastructure, one that combines public-interest governance with open standards to expand economic opportunity, enhance competition, and integrate millions of micro and small enterprises into the digital economy.
Building on the launch of ION, Indonesia envisions a broader regional expansion of open digital commerce infrastructure across Southeast Asia. Following its initial implementation in Indonesia, similar open-network initiatives are expected to be introduced in Malaysia and Thailand, laying the foundation for a cross-border, interoperable digital trade ecosystem.
This next phase will evolve into OCEAN (Open Commerce Ecosystem for ASEAN Nations) a bold new vision for regional digital trade. OCEAN represents an open, interoperable, and inclusive platform designed to connect buyers, sellers, logistics providers, and fintech players across Southeast Asia, fostering seamless digital commerce and deeper economic integration across the region.
