From State Printer to Digital Powerhouse – The Story of Peruri

Founded in 1971, Perum Peruri (trade name Peruri) was originally known as the ‘money-printing public corporation of the Republic of Indonesia’. Its main task was to print rupiah banknotes as well as other state-owned security documents, including excise stamps, passports, and land documents.

However, with the coming of the digitisation era, Peruri embarked on a journey to transform itself from state-owned security printing enterprise into the creator of a trusted digital ecosystem.

 

How did it start?

Thanks to a strong commitment from its management, Peruri’s digital transformation journey began in 2019, when it became an electronic certification provider under the Ministry of Communication and Information.

The company went through various stages of certification by a supervisory team until reaching its current status as the nation’s most trustworthy authority for providing digital certificate services.

Nuturing innovation

With a view to driving business innovation, Peruri then established a research unit in 2020 called the Peruri Research Institute of Authenticity.

From this unit emerged several new digital security products, including e-stamps for official administration documents and public services, Peruri Code for product authenticity and security, Peruri Sign to guarantee data confidentiality and document security, and Peruri Graph for data analysis. The company also plans to launch e-passports and e-land certificates.

In 2022, its digital business customers reached 120 entities, comprising sectors such as state- and regional-owned enterprises, government agencies, and universities from multiple business sectors. As a result, Peruri saw its revenue from digital products increase by over 600%.

The most significant contribution to this revenue came from the Ministry of Agriculture’s Eartag project for livestock, for which Peruri provides the Eartag secure QR code. The aim of the code was to expand coverage of livestock identification and data collection following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. Over 14 million ear tags were distributed to 23 provinces affected by the disease.

As a further initiative for nurturing innovation in digital security, Peruri has recently launched Peruri Sandbox as a playground for innovators and digital ecosystem enablers to experiment and share their ideas for supporting organisations providing technology solutions in the public sector.

The sandbox will prioritise public services such as digital identity, digitalisation of education and health, and digital payments. It comprises a mentoring scheme involving multiple public sector stakeholders, such as the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises, Bank Indonesia, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Ministry of Health, as well as funding companies.

Peruri’s role is to act as a bridge between innovators and regulators to ensure that every innovation adheres to relevant regulations.

Venture into brand protection

In July 2023, Peruri, in collaboration with SICPA, held its first brand protection technology forum, in Jakarta, with the aim of strengthening its competitiveness as a technology provider in this sector.

Back in 2002, these two organisations formed PT SICPA Peruri Securink (PT SPS) for the provision of security inks for currency and security documents. PT SPS subsequently extended its offering to brand protection in the form of three solutions: QUAZAR®, an overt security feature, SICPAGUARD®, a covert security feature, and REVEO® for digital verification.

The solutions have already been implemented in various industries, including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, precious metals, luxury goods, electronics, and FMCG. When used in combination with Peruri Code, they allow for authentication through devices such as smartphones.

Government trust

Peruri’s efforts to remain relevant to changing times and technological developments have earned it increased trust from the government. At the 2023 Indonesia Digital Ecosystem Summit, Peruri received an award as best company to build a digital ecosystem, with innovations that supported future business sustainability.

With a new mandate from the government, Peruri will carry out the functions of GovTech Indonesia, the digital government office. President Joko Widodo has approved this decision, and the government will soon legalise it through a presidential regulation. The office will focus on three essential aspects: citizen-centric public services, universally accessible platforms and a whole-of-government approach to modernising the public sector.

Still true to its roots

While Peruri has enhanced its digital capacity, it remains active in security printing, including outside of Indonesia. Last year, for example, the government of Sri Lanka asked Peruri to print 1 million new passport books worth IDR 31 billion ($2 million). Over the last 20 years, Peruri has printed 10 million Sri Lankan passports under nine different cooperation contracts.

In 2022, Peruri reported a significant increase in passport and security document production, together with a notable growth in excise stamp production.

The business targets set this year by Peruri’s supervisory board reflect the company’s goal of pursuing its digital transformation while remaining true to its security printing roots.

On the banknote production side, for example, Peruri aims to improve performance by ensuring a smooth supply chain – upstream to downstream – as well as ensuring sustainability and enhanced cost controls. On the digital side, meanwhile, it is focusing on developing a ‘Central Bank Digital Currency Indonesia’ prototype.

Peruri has stayed relevant to the era, with innovations in the digital field, while at the same time remaining true to its origin as a high-security printer.

This combination of decades-old security printing experience with a passion for excellence in the digital domain has, says the company, transformed it into a rock-solid provider of trusted digital and physical solutions in both the public and private sector.