Indosat, Nvidia and Kemkomdigi launch university-linked AI research centre

Details: John Tanner; Category: Enterprise Ecosystems; 17 August 2026; 1038 views

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, Nvidia, Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Kemkomdigi) and Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) have launched a university-based AI technology center dedicated to advancing AI research, innovation, and digital talent development.

Unveiled on Thursday, the UGM Indosat Nvidia AI Technology Center (NVAITC) will leverage Nvidia's full-stack AI platform and GPU Merdeka (Indosat's GPU-as-a-Service platform) to provide researchers and students at UGM with end-to-end AI capabilities, from enterprise-grade accelerated computing and AI software to pretrained models, development frameworks, technical mentorship, training, and industry collaboration.

Established as part of the Indonesia AI Center of Excellence (AI CoE) initiative launched last year by Kemkomdigi, Indosat, Nvidia and Cisco, UGM Indosat NVAITC will tap into UGM's multidisciplinary research capabilities, local datasets, and pipeline of researchers and students to serve as a research hub for developing applied AI solutions.

Indosat said the centre will initially focus on strategic areas aligned with Indonesia's national priorities, including tuberculosis screening, smart agriculture and disaster prediction, preparedness and response.

UGM Indosat NVAITC will also connect Indonesian researchers to a worldwide ecosystem of expertise, fostering international collaboration, knowledge exchange, and development of AI solutions with real-world impact, said Indosat president director and CEO Vikram Sinha.

“Through UGM Indosat NVAITC, we are bringing the best of global AI technologies and expertise to Indonesia, while expanding access for the ecosystem of researchers, students, startups, and innovators across the country,” he said in a statement.

Kemkomdigi minister Meutya Hafid said the centre will serve the government’s ambition to establish AI sovereignty and make AI “a driver of economic growth, national competitiveness, and solutions to Indonesia's most pressing challenges.”

It’s also the latest move by Indosat to establish itself firmly in the centre of AI development in the country. As we reported earlier this month, Indosat is collaborating with Ooredoo Group, Nokia and Nvidia to build a large-scale AI infrastructure platform in Indonesia.

Last November, Indosat also teamed up with Nokia and Nvidia to open an AI-RAN Research Center in Surabaya.