Profile: Bahtiar Rifai, Asia House Fellow

Bahtiar’s project at Asia House will focus on accelerating AI adoption in the public sector and enhancing the quality of public services.

Bahtiar Rifai is a digital economist who leads a research group on the knowledge-based economy at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) in Indonesia. After obtaining his PhD from the University of Birmingham in 2020, Bahtiar has conducted research on the digital economy, digital government, digital SMEs, digital banking and digital societies. He developed the SMEs Digital Readiness Index, Digital Government Index, and Inventory Management Systems to promote SMEs 4.0 and AI Adoption Readiness index.

Bahtiar actively promotes digital transformation through policymaking at both national and sub-national levels. He was appointed by the Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry in 2023 as part of the national team for E-Government evaluation and serves as a senior advisor for the Indonesian Food and Drug Authority (BPOM) and local governments.