Jakarta pins software job hopes on its Slipicon Valley

Jakarta

NOT far from the hardscrabble slums and the scrap metal dealers that dot the banks, Jakarta's sludgy Ciliwung River is what Indonesia's leaders hope may be the country's ticket to a higher tech future.

It's called Slipicon Valley, a play on the name of the home base in northern California of the world's software titans such as Facebook and Apple and the decidedly more modest neighbourhood of Slipi about a 15-minute drive from Jakarta's CBD - depending on traffic.