HARA Sole Indonesian Startup at Annual Bloomberg Conference in New York

Jakarta, Indonesia, October 12, 2019 –(PR.com)– “What an honor it was to bring Indonesia in front of an international audience at the cutting edge of big data. The reactions were overwhelmingly positive,” said Larissa Sidarto, HARA Director of Business Development and Marketing, who spoke for HARA at the conference. Sidarto and Magisha Thohir, Business Analyst, shared HARA’s experience in using data to promote financial inclusion for smallholder farmers in Indonesia.

Bloomberg, a leading global business, technology, and media company, hosted the 6th annual Data for Good Exchange Conference on September 15, 2019. With theme of “Data Science for the SDGs,” the conference brought over 500 data experts across industries to share insights on data innovations needed to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Notable speakers included Bloomberg’s CTO Shawn Edwards, UN Statistics Division Assistant Director Francesca Perucci, and The Rockefeller Foundation’s Managing Director Tariq Khokhar.

“The main data gaps in measurement of the SDGs remain timeliness, inclusiveness, and relevance to the users – so we need to transform how we produce and use data notes,” Perucci commented at her keynote speech.

Agritech startup HARA shared the method used to bridge the data gaps. Lack of data and transparency in Indonesia’s agriculture sector resulted in low level of financial inclusion, excluding farmers from formal financial services.

HARA’s model has shown promising results in utilizing data to make the invisible become accessible. “Information exists all around us, yet it is often unseen. Data analytics that is steered by empathy and human intent can truly provide the change the world needs,” said Sidarto. “Our mission at HARA is to make that information available. We are working to make the invisible more accessible, and data is key to all this.”

To date, HARA’s coverage spread in over 400 villages across Indonesia, working together with more than 26,000 farmers previously deemed “unbankable.” With the help of 700 field agents, HARA and its partner institutions have disbursed financing programs worth US$380,000 to over 2,500 farmers with a repayment rate of 97%.

Thohir continued that with the successful credit program implementation, HARA is developing ways to increase access to financial products, including crop-insurance coverage, which reduces financial risks of harvest fails due to weather, and establishing partnerships with local store owners in the community for an end-to-end solution. “Bloomberg’s Data Exchange for Good Conference encapsulates what data can really do for the world. Information does not merely describe events, in fact, it can bring about impactful change. HARA is one of the many data ecosystems that seeks to transform inequitable conditions and create, a better place for everyone,” said Thohir.

“The conference brought together institutions and individuals, all of whom are driven to pave innovative solutions to long-standing social problems. And often, the answers are right there in plain sight,” Sidarto concluded.