K-Smart City Technology to Take Root in Indonesia’s New Capital, ‘Nusantara’

[Financial News] The University of Seoul will use the smart city cooperation center it is building in Indonesia’s new capital, ‘Nusantara,’ as a testbed for advanced Korean urban technologies.
According to the University of Seoul on the 13th, its Graduate School of International Urban Sciences held the ‘Nusantara Smart City Forum 2026’ in Nusantara on the 3rd and discussed operating the local cooperation center as a ‘living lab’ to test technologies in a real urban environment. The two countries plan to use the center to directly validate smart building management, eco-friendly energy, and urban agriculture technologies in the field. They also considered jointly developing key performance indicators to objectively evaluate the results of applying the technologies.
The project is an initiative to enter the overseas new-city development market with the Korean government, businesses, and universities working as a team. It is one of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT)’s official development assistance projects supporting developing countries. CJ OliveNetworks is leading the project team, with the University of Seoul participating as a partner institution.
About 150 people attended the forum, held on the 3rd, both in person and online to explore ways to cooperate. They included representatives of four universities in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan region that have signed memorandums of understanding with the University of Seoul, as well as government, academic, and business representatives from both countries.
The Indonesian government also expressed high hopes for the practical application of Korean technology. At the forum, Basuki Hadimuljono, head of the Nusantara Capital City Authority, said, “What matters most is that research findings do not remain confined to academic papers but are directly applied in the new capital.” He added, “I hope local university students and researchers will participate together and build a foundation of smart city technology and knowledge.”
Yeom Chun-ho, vice dean of the University of Seoul’s Graduate School of International Urban Sciences, said, “It is important for the smart city cooperation center to serve as a hub connecting the two countries’ technology demonstrations with educational and research cooperation.” He added, “Through continued exchanges, we will ensure that research outcomes can be applied in the new capital itself.”  

[email protected] Kim Man-gi Reporter