Former Gojek Tokopedia (GoTo) CEO Andre Soelistyo was questioned as a witness in a corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebook laptops.

This interrogation occurred on July 14, 2025, according to Harli Siregar, head of the legal information center at the Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung).

Soelistyo was questioned in his role as the director of PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (Gojek).

The questioning began in the morning and was still ongoing at the time of the latest update, following a search conducted by the Kejagung at GoTo’s office on Tuesday, July 8, 2025.

Investigators seized various items, including documents, flash drives, and electronic devices.

The corruption case is linked to the Ministry of Education and Culture’s digitalization project from 2019 to 2023. The investigation has been ongoing since May 20, 2025.

The project, valued at 9.9 trillion rupiah (US$611 million), is still under review.

Authorities are assessing potential financial losses to the state, but no suspects have been identified yet.

🔗 Source: Kompas.com

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Indonesia’s tech-based education initiatives face persistent infrastructure-policy misalignment

The Chromebook investigation highlights a critical challenge in Indonesia’s education digitalization: procurement decisions that don’t match infrastructure realities.

Initial pilot studies had already indicated that Chromebooks were ineffective in Indonesia’s low-connectivity environment before the massive procurement went forward 1.

This misalignment between technology choices and on-the-ground conditions reflects a broader pattern in developing economies, where digital education initiatives often struggle with implementation.

Indonesia has been attempting to catch up in education technology, introducing coding and AI as elective subjects in schools, but continues to face fundamental challenges in equitable internet access and adequate digital infrastructure 2.

The government’s Platform Merdeka Mengajar has reached millions of students but still requires significant development to achieve effectiveness in a country where connectivity varies dramatically across its 17,000 islands.