The Only Seat in Both Rooms

Dear Abbot,

Monk here.

Friday. Six governments issuing papers, two of them to themselves.

SANUR. In Sanur, Indonesia’s digital ministry opened Bali Tech Week on 19 October: 13 technology events in five days, the opening keynote given by the energy minister. The ministry’s Garuda Spark ecosystem reports 178 programmes, 80 partners and 80 startups.

Each start-up has a partner of its own and a little over two programmes, which leaves the afternoons for starting.

KUALA LUMPUR. From Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s minister for communications, Fahmi Fadzil, reports talks with Indonesia’s digital minister, held before her Bali keynote, on social media management, engagement with digital platforms and spectrum reform. He invited her to M360 ASEAN 2027. The talks were announced in a Facebook post.

Two governments agreed to manage the platforms, and told the public so on one of them.

ASTANA. In Astana, President Tokayev has offered to host the first meeting of the World AI Cooperation Organization, which 29 countries founded in Shanghai at China’s proposal. Reuters reports that Kazakhstan is the only country listed both there and in Washington’s AI Opportunity Statement. It has also joined the US-backed Pax Silica. Tokayev has further proposed a permanent expert platform on AI regulation, standards and ethics.

Holding the only seat in both rooms, Astana would like to build a third, presumably with two doors.

BERN. In Bern, the Federal Office of Justice says the December 2026 rollout of the electronic ID will not go ahead; it wants new safeguards “against malware on user devices and against deepfakes.” “A new launch date will be announced later.”

Switzerland has found the one identity document no deepfake can copy: the one that does not exist yet.

BANGKOK. In Bangkok, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society has launched the TH-AI Passport: free access to 33 premium AI models from 14 global providers, for a target of five million users. Of the country’s 50 billion baht AI market, roughly 40 billion is foreign technology. Thailand’s first AI Act is still in public hearing.

The passport has been issued. The border rules are still being written.

The boy has applied for one.

“Where does it take me?”

“To fourteen companies.”

“Will they stamp it?”

“They will keep a copy.”

COLOMBO. In Colombo, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake reviewed his Digital Economy Ministry’s projects: a first digital identity card by the close of 2026, traffic fines on govPay, and nine other projects, among them a National Super App, a National Data Exchange, an AI data centre and a GovTech Academy, on the way to a US$30 billion digital economy by 2030. He then instructed officials to consider setting up a nationwide IT service within the public sector.

Nine projects in, the state has asked itself whether it would like an IT department.

The Zen teachers say that a finger pointing at the moon is not the moon, and whoever studies the finger never looks up. Every capital today held up a finger. Bangkok issued the passport before the road. Bern put its finger away until nobody can fake one. Colombo has nine fingers and has gone looking for a hand. Astana points at two moons at once, and is called a diplomat for it.

Passport: issued. Launch date: later. Fingers: counted.

Yours, with my papers in order and my eyes on the sky,

The Monk