APEKSI enriched the Digital Transformation Indonesia Conference & Expo (DTI-CX) 2025 by hosting a special session focused on horizontal learning among city governments. This session was held on 7 August 2025, at the Jakarta International Convention Center (JICC), Senayan, Jakarta. The event was opened directly and enthusiastically by the Mayor of Surakarta, who also serves as the Vice Chairperson of the APEKSI Board for Smart City Acceleration. His presence underscored APEKSI’s commitment to advancing the smart city agenda across Indonesia, making the session a vital platform for city leaders to share concrete strategies and solutions for implementing digital transformation in their respective regions.
The special Horizontal Learning session featured key speakers from cities considered successful in digital innovation, including representatives from Surabaya, Makassar, and Medan, as well as the Nusantara Capital City (IKN) Authority. They presented their case studies and best practices in leveraging technology to enhance public services, governance efficiency, and citizens’ quality of life. This horizontal learning format is highly effective as it allows APEKSI member cities to directly adopt models and systems that have been proven successful elsewhere. The involvement of the IKN Authority also provided a futuristic insight into the smart city standards to be implemented nationally, accelerating knowledge transfer and motivating other cities to achieve equitable digital governance acceleration.