Indonesia To Private Sector: Shape up Digital Talent
- By Winston Thomas
- May 17, 2022
The Indonesian government has urged the private sector to play a role in shaping the country's digital talent ecosystem, according to reports.
During a visit to the Huawei Indonesia Headquarters in Jakarta, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko said that the government is committed to supporting national digital talent development.
Indonesia has grown to become the region's largest and fastest-growing digital economy in recent years. However, the growth has been accompanied by a shortage of digital skills. The COVID-19 pandemic has complicated matters, as businesses have had to develop digital capabilities to continue operating rapidly.
During his visit, Moeldoko stressed that vocational education will be intensified to address challenges but that the private sector also has a vital role to play. He called on businesses to innovate and create opportunities for Indonesians to develop their digital skills.
"From the target of the development program of 100,000 digital talents in Indonesia, currently, around 60,000 digital talents have been created. The government really lauds the cooperation of the private sector that supports the formation of a digital ecosystem in Indonesia," he said.
Moeldoko referred to a memorandum of understanding signed between the Presidential Staff Office and Huawei Indonesia in October 2020 to train as many as 100,000 employees in the country.
The government is looking at 2023 as a target date to boost digital technology utilization and strengthen the domestic trade ecosystem, according to Economic Deputy at the Ministry of National Development Planning (PPN) and National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti.
She said that this was in line with the government's goals to improve economic productivity, focusing on national logistics, business competition, and consumer protection.
Huawei Indonesia CEO Jacky Chen praised the government's commitment to developing a strong digital talent ecosystem in Indonesia. He said that his company is ready to play its part in supporting this goal.
“We really laud the guidance and advice by Moeldoko to us to support digital transformation in Indonesia. Going forward, Huawei wants to contribute more to Indonesia as part of Huawei's commitment 'I Do' to create value in order to build Indonesia, which is 5G-oriented, digital, and green," Chen said.
A study by AlphaBeta shows that at an accelerated pace of skilling, digitally skilled workers can contribute IDR4,434 trillion (USD303.4 billion) to Indonesia’s GDP in 2030. This is the same year that Antara predicts a requirement of 9 million workers who are qualified in the field of advanced digital technology expertise such as cloud, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, 5G, and the Internet of Things.
Image credit: iStockphoto/Korrawin
Winston Thomas
Winston Thomas is the editor-in-chief of CDOTrends. He likes to piece together the weird and wondering tech puzzle for readers and identify groundbreaking business models led by tech while waiting for the singularity.