NUSANTARA – The Nusantara Capital Authority (IKN Authority) has officially signed a technical assistance agreement with the United States Government to advance Smart City solutions for Indonesia’s future capital. The signing took place on Tuesday (25/02/2026) at the Authority’s office in Nusantara.
The project is valued at US$2.49 million and funded through a grant from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). The agency supports economic development in emerging markets while strengthening trade and investment partnerships. The grant signals growing international confidence in Nusantara’s ambition to become a technology-driven and sustainable capital city.
Comprehensive Smart City Framework
The technical assistance will deliver a series of strategic and implementation-ready documents, including:
- Smart City Enterprise Architecture
- Procurement-ready RFP packages
- Financial and Investment Model
- ESG-compliant framework (PESIA)
- Capacity Building Roadmap
- Implementation Phasing Plan
These outputs are intended to ensure that Nusantara’s Smart City development proceeds in a structured, transparent, and ESG-aligned manner, while remaining investment-ready and execution-focused.
International Consortium Involved
The initiative will be implemented by a consortium led by Eficens Systems Inc, in partnership with Frost & Sullivan (USA & Indonesia), ASECH Indonesia (Center of Excellence on Smart City), Mirekel, and PT Searce Technologies Indonesia (Google Cloud Platform Partner).
Head of the Nusantara Capital Authority, Basuki Hadimuljono, highlighted the importance of digital transformation in building the new capital.
“Our vision is clear: Nusantara must become a green, sustainable, and fundamentally smart city,” said Basuki.
Meanwhile, Subhranshu Sekhar Das, Member of the Board of Frost & Sullivan America and Project Director, outlined a broader ambition beyond conventional smart city concepts.
“Nusantara has the opportunity to become more than just a smart city — it can evolve into a Cognitive City. As the global knowledge industry undergoes transformation, cities must transition from static digital infrastructure to adaptive intelligence systems. Agentic AI and federated knowledge platforms will play a defining role in shaping how cities learn, simulate, and continuously optimize governance, infrastructure, and citizen services. Nusantara has the potential to become a global reference model for this intelligence-driven urban paradigm,” said Subhranshu.
On the same day, the project’s inaugural meeting was held, attended by USTDA Senior Representative for Indonesia Yolanda Hanna and members of the Eficens consortium.
Through this collaboration, the Nusantara Capital Authority reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that the new capital is not only physically developed but also digitally designed with a secure, mature, and future-oriented system. The resulting blueprint is expected to serve as a concrete foundation for Smart City implementation and potentially become a reference model for smart city development both nationally and globally.
