Last week we inaugurated our new home in Jakarta, where our team of Googlers will help millions of Indonesians come online and get more out of the web.

It’s an exciting time to be deepening our presence here. One of Asia’s fastest-growing economies, Indonesia is primed to become a global Internet heavyweight. It boasts a rapidly growing middle class and a red-hot smartphone market with an Internet population that will reach 100 million users -- or forty percent of the population -- by 2016.

Whether it’s introducing a new language such as Balinese to Google Search, or adding a traffic layer to Google Maps in Bandung, we want to provide our users with more features that are relevant and useful in daily life. Growing our office in Jakarta will help us stay close to Indonesian users and partners. Our Googlers here also help Indonesian businesses grow by tapping into the huge opportunities online alongside localizing products like YouTube and helping our consumers find quality local content for every occasion, for example, the holy month of Ramadan.

[Image] The games and mini-fitness area overlooking Warung Mbah Google, our local-inspired cafeteria

Our new office has all the features visitors to any Google office can expect -- with a distinctly Indonesian touch. The murals and decorations are inspired by local icons including the three-wheeled bemo, the street hawker and the traditional sport of Hombo Batu, while our cafeteria, Warung Mbah Google, resembles a local eatery. Each meeting room is also named after unique Indonesian themes, such as Pangkalan Ojek (a motorcycle taxi station), Merdeka! (the cry of freedom during independence) and Potong Bebek Angsa (an Indonesian children’s song).

These are just a few examples of our efforts to create an environment that allows Googlers to share ideas, work collaboratively and focus on the things they love, both inside and outside of work.

Enjoy the photos!

[Image] The Google logo surrounded by numerous traditional Batik cap (pronounced “chap”), a copper block stamp used to apply wax on fabrics for making Batik cloth
Posted by Rudy Ramawy, Country Head, Google Indonesia