On 19 August 2025, the Aus4ASEAN Fellowship Regional Immersion hosted a panel discussion entitled “From Access to Impact: Advancing Digital Inclusion for Less Advantaged Communities” in Kuala Lumpur, where Arifah Sharifuddin, the Institute Director of the Tech for Good Institute (TFGI), served as a panellist.

The Aus4ASEAN Fellowship, announced at the 2024 ASEAN-Australia Special Summit, is designed to foster confident leaders in critical thematic areas, strengthen professional networks between ASEAN and Australia, and equip fellows to translate knowledge into action in their home countries. The Regional Immersion in Malaysia brought together 24 fellows for policy dialogue, fostering thought leadership and facilitating knowledge exchange centred on the theme of Digital Trade and an Inclusive Digital Economy, while also emphasising women’s safety, security, and inclusion.

The panel on digital inclusion featured:

• Arifah Sharifuddin, Institute Director, Tech for Good Institute
• Indriyatno Banyumurti, ICT Watch Indonesia
• Niran Pravithana, CEO, Vulcan Coalition, Thailand

Participants were welcomed by Kate Wiencke, First Secretary at the Australian High Commission in Malaysia, followed by an opening keynote delivered by Sam Majid, CEO of Malaysia’s National AI Office.

Moderated by an Aus4ASEAN Fellow, the session examined how community-driven innovations, inclusive research, education, and responsible use of emerging technologies such as AI can bridge the digital divide and enable meaningful participation in the digital economy for marginalized and underserved communities.

Key Takeaways:

1. Digital inclusion requires intentional design, not just access.

The panel emphasised a transformation in ASEAN’s perspective on digital inclusion: progressing from merely “connecting the unconnected” to empowering individuals to “use the internet productively and participate meaningfully in the digital economy”. As more than 80% of Indonesians gain access to the internet, a significant number still find themselves susceptible to scams, misinformation, and privacy threats. This situation serves as a crucial reminder that mere access is not enough; digital literacy and supportive ecosystems are essential for true empowerment.

Speakers emphasised that intentional design should be integrated into digital public infrastructure and services from the outset. Examples include Indonesia’s community-led digital literacy programs that incorporate local traditions to educate on online safety, as well as inclusive business models such as Thailand’s Vulcan Coalition, which utilises the distinctive strengths of visually impaired workers in AI data training. These approaches demonstrate how customising solutions to the specific contexts of communities can transform connectivity into a genuine opportunity.

Experts highlighted that effective frameworks are grounded in principles of openness, inclusion, and governance, along with ongoing feedback loops from users. Without intentional focus on inclusive design, encompassing linguistic accessibility, culturally relevant interfaces, and cross-sector collaboration, digital platforms may exacerbate inequalities instead of alleviating them.

2. Cross-sector collaboration is essential for sustainable impact.

The panel highlighted that achieving digital inclusion requires collaboration between governments and companies, rather than isolated efforts. Sustainable impact requires coordinated ecosystems where the government provides enabling policies, the private sector brings innovation, philanthropic actors de-risk early investments, and communities foster trust and engage at the grassroots level.

Examples throughout ASEAN illustrate the opportunities and challenges inherent in collaboration. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Malaysia experienced a rise in last-mile delivery startups; however, the majority ceased operations once their bootstrap funding was depleted, underscoring the vulnerability of business models lacking sustainable ecosystem backing. In contrast, Thailand’s Vulcan Coalition established a sustainable partnership model by leveraging the regulations for disability employment. Under this modality, corporations fulfilled their legal responsibilities, individuals with disabilities were provided with training and meaningful employment in AI data annotation, and Vulcan achieved revenue growth through its AI products.

ICT Watch from Indonesia demonstrated that solutions developed in urban centres frequently do not succeed in varied rural environments. Their “5C pillars” (community empowerment, capacity development, content production, communication, and collaborative advocacy) illustrate the effectiveness of bottom-up, multi-stakeholder engagement in aligning national strategies with local realities.

Building inclusive ecosystems involves harmonising public aspirations with private capabilities, philanthropic adaptability, and community confidence. The most resilient models are not isolated initiatives; rather, they consist of networks of stakeholders collaborating within cohesive policy frameworks.

3. Responsible AI and local talent development will shape ASEAN’s digital future.

AI is advancing rapidly, with new versions emerging every few weeks, creating both opportunity and risk. The panel cautioned that in the absence of robust governance and the cultivation of local talent, ASEAN risks repeating the mistakes of social media, where inadequate early regulation led to widespread scams, misinformation, and economic losses. Unlike social media, AI is set to infiltrate every sector, including healthcare, transportation, and education, thereby making proactive governance even more urgent.

The National AI Office of Malaysia has announced its upcoming AI Blueprint for the years 2026 to 2030, emphasising the importance of responsible governance, data sovereignty, and the development of talent.  Malaysia is leading the initiative to establish an ASEAN AI Safety Network, which will allow member states to evaluate and certify AI systems prior to widespread implementation. This illustrates a fundamental principle: governance should enable innovation, not stifle it.

Building domestic AI capability is equally critical.  In the absence of foundational skills in algorithm design, dataset management, and ethical oversight, ASEAN countries face the danger of remaining perpetual end-users, confined to expensive licensing models. Inclusive talent strategies can also drive innovation. Thailand’s Vulcan Coalition has retrained people with disabilities from data annotators into AI trainers, showing how human strengths can be harnessed for productive, future-ready roles. Similarly, Indonesia’s grassroots literacy initiatives embed digital safety into cultural formats, proving that effective training must be community-driven and context-specific.

Panelists agreed that no single nation can address these challenges alone. Regional collaboration on AI governance, talent sharing, and policy harmonisation will help ASEAN to shape AI adoption in ways that reflect local languages, cultures, and values.

Conclusion
The panel concluded by emphasizing that digital inclusion is not a static achievement but a continuous process. From Indonesia’s community-led literacy programmes, to Thailand’s inclusive AI employment model, to Malaysia’s AI governance blueprint, the message is clear: people must remain at the center of ASEAN’s digital future.