Mira Tayyiba, the General Secretary of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics has advocated for striving towards better digital knowledge and competence in the public service sector. She argues that technology’s potential must be exploited to provide superior public services to the populace.
She stressed that government employees should be conscious of their roles as public workers whose professionalism is partly evaluated by the degree to which the public is satisfied with the services they receive in both physical and virtual settings. One of the focuses of reforming the bureaucracy is, in reality, digital transformation.
“As public employees, we have to keep improving our assignment skills and work ethic as we enter the information age,” she said at the Government Sector Digital Literacy Webinar for the Civitas Ministry of Communication and Information in Central Jakarta. “Government apparatus must be able to wisely navigate their activities amid the swift flow of cyberspace and skillfully take advantage of the rapid digital technology.”
Mira urged the Ministry of Communication and Informatics’s Digital Community to maximise the use of digital tools to boost effectiveness, productivity, and output. Furthermore, she urged all Civitas to keep studying and training to become more proficient in the digital realm.
Indonesia’s digital literacy and competence levels are still considered low. Based on Digital Skills Report 2021, only 19% of Indonesian workers have even the most fundamental understanding of digital technology. On the other hand, only 6% exhibit intermediate-level digital competency. Indonesia received a score of 3.49 on the National Digital Literacy Index, and by 2022, that number was expected to rise to 3.54.
“The 2022 digital literacy index score may have gone up by half a point, but we still need to be flexible enough to deal with emerging technologies like AI (artificial intelligence), ER (extended reality), quantum computing, and more. We’ll fall further behind if we don’t use it honestly and prudently,” she warned.
All parts of society, including government officials, must work together to mitigate the enormous potential brought by digitalisation and the negative things that exist in the digital realm and handle them properly. She anticipated that “capability, openness, and work ethic” would all come together to produce first-rate public services.
Initially, the Indonesian government had a programme called the Government Transformation Academy (GTA) Training for State Civil Servants that helped train government employees in digital skills. (ASN). The first group of 2023 ASN GTA forms have been opened for submission by the Ministry of Communication and Informatics.
The Digital Talent Scholarship Programme encompasses four foundational areas of ICT education in GTA. Some of the topics covered in these courses include “basic ICT training,” “graphic designers,” “video productions,” and “junior network administrators.” Any ASN in Indonesia who fits the criteria, registers for the programme online, and makes it through the selection process can participate.
Additionally, in the open recruitment for 2023, the Indonesian government will add more data experts and digital talent. The PANRB Ministerial Regulation No. 45/2022 regarding the Position of Executing Civil Servants in Government Agencies, including Digital Talent and Priority Executor Positions, inspired this policy’s creation.
Government officials are trying to determine which tasks will most impact the new guidelines and increased digital transformation. In 2023, hiring certain professionals to satisfy demand, including judges, prosecutors, professors, and other specialists in various fields, will be imperative. Civil Service Candidate (CPNS) and Government Employee with Employment Agreement Candidate (PPPK) applicants are welcome to apply.
