The Indonesian Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung) has revealed that Gojek founder Nadiem Makarim gave instructions regarding the selection of Chromebooks in the Education Digitalization program.

The directive was issued by Nadiem in his capacity as Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek).

In December 2019, Jurist Tan, a special staff member for Minister Nadiem, discussed technical aspects of the procurement with the Center for Education and Policy Studies (PSPK).

These discussions included the use of ChromeOS or Chromebooks.

In February and April 2020, Minister Nadiem met with representatives from Google to discuss the project.

According to Kejagung’s Director of Investigation, Abdul Qohar, Google offered a 30% co-investment if the ministry procured Chromebooks from 2020 to 2022.

This offer was reportedly communicated by Tan in meetings with key officials, including other suspects.

On May 6, 2020, during a virtual meeting led by Minister Nadiem, an instruction was issued to proceed with the procurement of Chromebooks, despite the process not being finalized.

The program involved acquiring 1.2 million laptops, including for remote schools, at a total budget of 9.3 trillion rupiah (US$574 million).

Nadiem remains a witness in the investigation.

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🔗 Source: Kumparan

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Indonesia’s recurring pattern of procurement scandals

The Chromebook procurement case follows a well-documented pattern of corruption in Indonesian government contracting that has persisted across multiple administrations.

The e-KTP (electronic ID card) scandal from 2017 showed similar characteristics, with approximately $172 million misappropriated from a $450 million budget after officials allegedly predetermined vendor selection before technical evaluations were complete 1.

Indonesia loses an estimated $4 billion annually to corruption in public procurement alone, making it one of the highest-risk areas for misappropriation of government funds 2.

The typical pattern involves high-ranking officials directing procurement decisions before proper processes are complete, as alleged in the Nadiem case where the decision to use Chromebooks reportedly came before technical feasibility studies 3.

These cases persist despite Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) successfully prosecuting numerous officials, highlighting the systemic nature of procurement vulnerabilities that transcend individual agencies or administrations.

2️⃣ The double-edged sword of public-private partnerships in education technology

Google’s offered “co-investment of 30%” represents a common but potentially problematic arrangement where private technology companies subsidize public education initiatives in exchange for platform adoption.

This practice has precedent globally, with Google’s education strategies focusing on early adoption in schools to build long-term platform dependency, as seen in their capture of 60% of the U.S. education market through similar partnership strategies 3.

The promised Google co-investment created a financial incentive that potentially overrode technical considerations about Chrome OS’s suitability for regions with limited internet access, a critical factor for Indonesia’s 3T (frontier, outermost, disadvantaged) regions 4.

Internal technical teams reportedly raised objections about Chromebooks’ dependency on internet connectivity in a country where only 53.7% of schools had reliable internet access when the program launched 4.

The case demonstrates how public-private partnerships in educational technology, while offering financial benefits, can create conflicts between corporate interests and educational outcomes when procurement decisions prioritize vendor relationships over technical suitability.

3️⃣ Indonesia’s challenging EdTech context during pandemic acceleration

The procurement occurred during an unprecedented period of digital transformation in Indonesian education, with the pandemic forcing 530,000 schools to close and accelerating EdTech adoption for 68 million students 5.

During this crisis period (2020-2022), Indonesia’s EdTech sector grew from 42 startups to 342, creating a chaotic marketplace with both legitimate innovation and opportunistic vendors 6.

The government faced enormous pressure to rapidly digitize education while significant infrastructure challenges persisted. Many students, especially in rural areas, lacked access to devices and internet connectivity needed for online learning 5.

This context of crisis and rapid transformation created conditions where normal procurement safeguards were potentially weakened in the name of emergency response, a pattern seen in pandemic procurement across many countries.

The case highlights the vulnerability of education technology procurement to corruption during periods of crisis-driven digital transformation, when immediate needs may override established procedures for technical evaluation and competitive bidding.

Recent Google developments

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