Govt, private sector team up to train 9 million digital professionals by 2030

As part of a wider plan to digitize Indonesia, the government has continuously supported digital talent development programs as one of the keys to digital transformation.

To that end, the Communications and Information Ministry is offering the 2021 Digital Talent Scholarship (DTS), a stimulus program to train new digitally-minded Indonesian talents, which started in 2018.

Hary Budiarto, the Communications and Information Ministry’s head of research and human resource development, said the program aimed at training highly skilled professionals in the information technology and communications field.

“Digital talent is one of the keys to a digital transformation. DTS is one of the programs supporting President Joko [‘Jokowi’] Widodo’s instructions on the national digital transformation, which has a target of 9 million highly skilled digital talents by 2030,” he said in a statement.

At the same time, the Directorate General of Higher Education at the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministry has introduced the Kampus Merdeka (Freedom Campus) program, especially for activities concerning entrepreneurship or digital start-ups.

According to Hary, the directorate general’s 2021 programs will involve close collaboration with the Communications and Information Ministry through the development of a start-up-centric curriculum, as well as a massive online training program for both students and teachers, with a target of 100,000 participants involved.

“Through the collaboration between the DTS’ Talent Scouting Academy [TSA] and the Kampus Merdeka program, the Communications and Information Ministry also facilitates students who are interested and talented in the information technology and communication sector,” he said.

Support for the government program also comes from the private sector, such as e-commerce giant Tokopedia, which will offer a certified internship program for software engineering, marketing and business development.

Tokopedia will also provide a learning center for Indonesian tech practitioners through the Tokopedia Academy, which counts the START Summit tech conference as one of its programs. Together with the University of Indonesia (UI), Tokopedia has launched the AI Center of Excellence and is collaborating with Atma Jaya University for a subject on e-commerce.

“The availability, readiness and maturity of digital talent are some of the keys to realizing a globally competitive technology industry. Through Tokopedia Academy, we are providing a platform to hone Indonesia's digital talents in order to encourage the creation of more innovations, as well as promote Indonesia's tech scene,” said Siti Fauziah, Tokopedia Academy lead.

According to the 2020 Global Startup Ecosystem report, Jakarta was named the second-best ecosystem for start-ups in the Top 100 Emerging Ecosystems list after Mumbai, India. The indicators used in the assessment covers start-up performance, funding, market reach and digital talent. Out of the four, Jakarta’s digital talent assessment scored the lowest.

“This data shows the rising need for digital talents in Indonesia. Because of this, there is an urgency for collaborations between the government, digital platforms and academia in developing digital talent to reach the 9 million goal by 2030,” Hary said.