Thank you Umang. Actually, I'm afraid I made a mistake there. BCA is THE largest listed company by market capitalisation. Thank you for drawing my attention to this. I've corrected.

Nadine Freischlad

Hi Sarajit. Thanks for your reading and your honest critique. You bring up good questions. This article does not address because it's not about the technical vulnerabilities of Aadhaar. It's about how the narrative of digital ID for development is taken up and being discussed within the Indonesian government and other stakeholders, an entirely different story.

Nadine Freischlad

Thanks for reading and for taking the time to comment RR, although I do not agree with some of your remarks. For instance, I do not believe at all that calling Nandan Nilekani a billionaire is an attempt to vilify him. Neither does “positioning it as a development tool,” suggests any other (negative) motivations. This is a description of how Aadhaar was first introduced via the Planning Commission, specifically as a tool to reduce welfare corruption. Several problems related to Aadhaar services during the pandemic have been documented, I don’t think I need to list them here. You are right to point out that the impact of technological progress is well known, and I do not imply that nothing should be done. The article argues that governments such as Indonesia’s, which grapple with planning and building a digital ID infrastructure now, do not necessarily have the capacity (yet) to implement such systems with all the potential risks in mind. Therefore, even within government agencies, there is some hesitance over going in a direction that would centralise authority over a digital ID with one agency.

Nadine Freischlad

Thanks for your comment Deepanshu. In my view it is helpful to bring up the example of quantum computing, to illustrate one way in which current encryption will eventually be challenged. In the article, this "potential threat" is mentioned by Randeep Sudan, who's been working in the digital identity space for many years and was leading the ID4D initiative within the World Bank. Governments like Indonesia's, planning their digital ID systems now, must develop the capacity to think ahead to anticipate these new challenges and solutions. It's not a given that this capacity exists within governments

Nadine Freischlad

Thank you for your comment Nirmalendu. I think the other commentator, Deepanshu, explains it failry well. The challenge lies in encryption becoming vulnerable. In contrast to Deepanshu, I do think it makes sense to bring up this example in the context of digital identities. The point is to illustrate the pace of innovation which makes planning this type of technology infrastructure so complex.

Nadine Freischlad

Thanks Sameep. Those are good questions. What you said is right–one advantage for the warteg owners to go to the same market vendors is that can get credit. Wahyoo is replicating that too, so that warteg owners can pay later for the goods they order in certain cases. It's all happening via an app. The main feature is for ordering groceries/daily goods. But there's also a tool for financial planning, and a tool that helps warteg owners keep track of customers who have an "open tap" at the food stall

Nadine Freischlad

yes, right? 10% sounds like a lot. It's the estimate I got from industry players here. I am surprised the fusion with e-commerce purchases hasn't happened in that way yet in India

Nadine Freischlad

Thanks Jeffrey. I don't have insight on Fore Coffee. Starbucks Indonesia (PT Sari Coffee Indonesia) is part of PT Map Boga Adiperkasa (a business unit of the MAP conglomerate). Map Boga Adiperkasa's financial reports don't break out rveneue for the individual F&B brands under this umbrella. The total revenue was about IDR 3 Trillion (~USD 210 million) in 2019. Starbucks is the biggest and oldest brand and likely the cash cow. But Map Boga Adiperkasa also includes a bakery chain, a ice cream chain, a pizza chain, a sushi chain and whatnot.

Nadine Freischlad

Hi Rahul, the product is pretty interchangeable. I think in KK's case, it's branding + being fast. Memorable brand and suddenly it's everywhere, while just as affordable as the others.

Nadine Freischlad