RIM Promises to Invest in R&D in Indonesia, But No Data Centers

BlackBerry consumers in Jakarta. (Image source: AP; via Komonews)

Canadian BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) has promised to make an investment in Indonesia, in the wake of its recent troubles in the country. But there are caveats: the investment is not about creating data centers, as the government has previously demanded. RIM’s investment is related only to R&D, and only in terms of software development.

This promise from RIM came after Indonesia’s minister for economic affairs, Hatta Rajasa, met with a Canada delegation and a RIM executive in Jakarta recently. As quoted by MetroTV, Rajasa explained:

The investment is about applications, and software – it’s not about hardware. But still, it’s huge in terms of creating content, which can lead to creating new technology entrepreneurs.

According to the minister, the partnership between RIM and Indonesia will involve one university building a research and technology development center on campus. Tentatively, that research center will built in Bandung, West Java.

Although it doesn’t meet all government demands, this is still a win-win solution for the Indonesian government and for RIM, considering both parties’ up and down relationship recently Even though Indonesia lost out when RIM built its data center in neighboring Malaysia, with this new partnership, we expect to see more local developers creating content that can be consumed by Indonesian people, more world-class Indonesian start-ups, and more technology knowledge transfer from a developed country to a developing one.

BlackBerry’s user numbers in Indonesia are massive, so any move by RIM and the government that creates benefits for users here will be very much appreciated. The partnership is set to be signed this November. Let’s see what this leads to.

[Source: Metro TV news – article in Indonesian]