Indonesia appoints new tech minister amid cabinet reshuffle

Budi Arie Setiadi / Photo credit: Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has officially appointed Budi Arie Setiadi as the country’s new minister of communication and information technology (Kominfo).

Previously, Setiadi served as the deputy minister of villages, the development of disadvantaged regions, and transmigration (Kemendes). He was also the chairperson of Projo, one of the largest volunteer groups supporting the president since 2014.

Kominfo is where all private electronic system providers in the country register with. The agency also supports Startup Studio, an accelerator program for early-stage firms.

Setiadi replaces Johnny Gerard Plate, who was involved in a corruption case related to a 4G wireless base station project. Plate was detained in May, and Mahfud MD – the coordinating minister for political, legal, and security affairs – assumed his position temporarily.

Earlier this month, Plate underwent his second trial at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court, where he denied the allegations against him.

Apart from Setiadi, Widodo has also appointed several deputy ministers and members of the Presidential Advisory Council.

One of the appointees is Nezar Patria, who is now the deputy minister of Kominfo. Before assuming the position, he was the editor-in-chief of local newspaper The Jakarta Post and was the institutional director of state-owned postal service Pos Indonesia.

Another name on the appointee list is Paiman Raharjo, who is now the deputy minister of Kemendes, replacing Setiadi.

See also: Former public officials joining tech companies: a rising trend in Indonesia