JAKARTA, Indonesia has teamed up with UK-based Dataswyft to establish a nationwide “smart data” ecosystem aimed at strengthening food security, modernizing farming operations, and uplifting rural communities.
The agreement, signed Thursday at the Agriculture Ministry in Jakarta, brings together the National Food Brigade and Dataswyft to create a secure, shareable, and user-controlled data platform. The system is designed to address one of the agriculture sector’s persistent hurdles — fragmented data and siloed systems that limit collaboration among government agencies, farmers, and private players.
National Food Brigade and Dataswyft sign an MoU at Building D of the Agriculture Ministry Complex in Ragunan, South Jakarta, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025.
“This collaboration allows us to leverage smart identity and data to better coordinate across agencies, stakeholders, and farmers, thereby advancing food security and rural prosperity,” said National Food Brigade Chairman Ichi Indrawan. He highlighted the project as a core agritech initiative to accelerate President Prabowo Subianto’s food self-sufficiency agenda.
Central to the initiative is the Dataswyft Wallet, a privacy-first digital tool that enables users to collect, manage, and share their own data under transparent terms. Through the platform, farmers will gain access to personalized government and private-sector services, receive targeted support, and contribute verified insights to national programs — all while maintaining full control over their data.
“Indonesia is showing bold leadership by embracing a cross-border digital public infrastructure that positions the country to leapfrog into the next-generation digital economy,” said Professor Irene Ng, CEO of Dataswyft Group London.
As part of the collaboration, Dataswyft will set up Indonesian operations and establish a HATLAB Studio in Jakarta, bringing together experts, technology partners, and investors to foster innovation in smart data markets. The pilot phase, backed by an estimated US$5 million budget, will begin in southern Sumatra, targeting the digitization of data for up to 10 million farmers.
Rusmin Lawin, Deputy Chair of the National Food Brigade Advisory Board, emphasized that the initiative will enhance transparency across farming practices, making the sector more appealing to financial institutions and investors.
Echoing this, Davide Ceper, Dataswyft’s Senior Director for Global Strategy and Growth, said the platform will serve as a central hub for collaboration across the agricultural value chain, “unlocking growth, efficiency, and prosperity for Indonesia’s farming communities.”
