Indonesia’s digital transformation continues to accelerate, marked by increasing infrastructure equity and digital economic activity across various regions. However, behind these achievements, the East Ventures – Digital Competitiveness Index (EV-DCI) 2026 report, presented by East Ventures together with Katadata Insight Center, highlights an urgent challenge: the quality of digital talent has not kept pace with digital transformation.
Despite this challenge, EV-DCI 2026 shows consistent improvement. A total of 37 of 38 provinces recorded increases in digital competitiveness scores, while 47 of 50 indicators that comprise the index also improved. The median EV-DCI score rose from 38.8 in 2025 to 42.2 in 2026, reflecting an increasingly equitable digital transformation across regions. Since the EV-DCI was first introduced in 2020, the average provincial digital competitiveness score has increased by more than 50%.
Nevertheless, inter-regional disparities remain a challenge. The EV-DCI recorded a score difference of nearly 60 points between the province with the highest and the lowest digital competitiveness. This means that regions that are already more advanced continue to grow faster than those that are still lagging behind.
Amid improvements in almost all digital indicators, the human resources (HR) pillar is the only component to decline in the EV-DCI 2026 by 2.5 points. This finding indicates that digital infrastructure development has not been balanced by the readiness of talents who are capable of optimally utilizing technology.
This assessment includes indicators such as the number of students and lecturers, digital field study programs, and the digital literacy index. This condition shows that access to technology is outpacing the public’s ability to use it productively.
The digital talent gap remains wide
EV-DCI 2026 shows that the inter-regional gap in digital HR capacity remains wide. The digital HR score in Java Island is about 2.3 times higher than in Sumatra and Kalimantan, and nearly three times higher than in Maluku and Papua. In Eastern Indonesia, the main challenge is no longer labor availability but strengthening digital competencies aligned with industry needs.
The demand for digital talent heightens in line with the rapid adoption of technology in Indonesia. With the number of internet users reaching 229.4 million, internet use for economic activity has also increased significantly.
The use of social media as a sales channel by businesses also rose by 20.7 points, consistent with the 7.9% growth in the financial services sector, which reflects the deepening of digital financial inclusion.
As we enter the era of artificial intelligence (AI), the need for digital talent is increasingly urgent. Indonesia is now among the top ten countries globally in terms of the number of generative AI users. However, spending on research and development (R&D) remains at only about 0.3% of GDP, far below that of leading AI nations. Yet, AI has the potential to increase Indonesia’s gross domestic product (GDP) by up to 12% or about US$366 billion if supported by HR capable of developing and utilizing this technology.
Responding to these findings, Angga Fauzan, CEO of MySkill, believes that the main issue lies not only in technological mastery but also in the equitable distribution of access to information and in simplifying technological developments so they are easier for the public to understand.
“One of the challenges is the uneven distribution of information about the latest technology. Furthermore, translating constantly changing technology into information that is easily understandable and practical for the public remains a major challenge,” Angga explained.
Angga added that the skill gap between formal education graduates and industry needs is also influenced by the slow adaptation of curricula to changes in the working world.
In this context, he sees bootcamps and edutech platforms as more adaptive bridges for equipping talent with skills relevant to industry needs.
“Formal education generally requires time to change its curriculum in line with industry developments. Meanwhile, MySkill is able to teach the latest skills faster with senior practitioners, both through intensive training and widely accessible on-demand content,” Angga added.
“Indonesia has demonstrated significant progress in building its digital foundation. The next challenge is ensuring that talent development keeps pace with the speed of technological innovation. This requires closer collaboration among the government, educational institutions, and industry to accelerate upskilling and reskilling, strengthen AI competencies, and prepare HR for future needs. With competitive talent, Indonesia can not only become a market for digital technology but also foster innovations capable of competing globally,” said Melisa Irene, Partner at East Ventures.
The EV-DCI 2026 report can be downloaded at east.vc/DCI.
