Radio Republik Indonesia has a big task, to cover the country's 18,000 islands and 255 million people with radio and new media services.

Andi Permadi, Head of New Media services at RRI is confident that Indonesia's national broadcaster is up to the task.

Outlining his plans for expanding the reach of RRI to new audiences on new platforms, Permadi outlined a strategy that combines traditional analog transmissions, digital radio, smartphone apps and a range of new services.

There are 92 traditional broadcast transmitters across the country, and now RRI has added a range of streaming channels and apps to the offering for its diverse audience of 700 language groups. The range of channels now available to consumers now includes 220 output channels:

“With our expansion of services, we have achieved so much with very limited budgets,” he told delegates at DBS2017.

Of particular interest is one of the network’s initiatives to open a portal for citizen journalists to contribute material to the national broadcaster from anywhere around the large archipelago, called RRI360.

Permadi was an online journalist at RRI for five years, and was promoted to Head of New Media in 2012. His areas of responsibility include the web, apps, streaming, the cloud and social media technology.

The network now offers podcasts, a streaming app for the network's channels called RRI Play, and a youth channel called BeYoung available on air, online and on apps.

An RRI colleague also spoke with passion about the importance of keeping radio technology and production skills up to date in Indonesia, “so that radio will not die.”