The Indonesian government is providing opportunities for women to benefit from digital technology in the hopes of encouraging more entrepreneurs to go digital by establishing the Digital Entrepreneurship Academy (DEA) as one of the training projects offered through the Ministry of Communication and Informatics’ Digital Talent Scholarship (DTS) programme.
This programme] is not only for the basic digital entrepreneurship but also insights to be able to compete in the national market and scale-up in the international market to financial literacy and cyber security.
– Johnny G. Plate, Minister of Communication and InformatioN
He added that most of the people who participated in the programme were female. The Digital Entrepreneurship Academy has become the focus of training for thousands of Indonesian entrepreneurs since the beginning of this year. This includes a special training programme designed for housewives (to develop digital-based entrepreneurs), with the percentage of female participants reaching 63 per cent.
Participants in DEA-DTS training will hopefully be able to develop a perspective on digital entrepreneurship that is both complete and holistic, thanks to the Ministry’s collaboration with key partners representing a variety of different technological businesses.
Minister Johnny believes that Indonesian micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) could be the driving force behind the digital economy in their country. He extended an invitation to everyone in the community, particularly women, to help revive the spirit of SMEs with the spirit of female entrepreneurship, “After Dark Comes Light, friends of modern Kartini, together with us, send the Indonesian nation and people to migrate to digital spaces for the glory of our country and people.”
Women’s participation through programme collaboration
In the meantime, Mira Tayyiba, the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Communication and Information, stated that the Ministry of Communication and Information is actively promoting women’s participation and higher representation in the digital sector through various programmes.
In addition to providing inclusive infrastructure, they also provide training in digital literacy. In the year 2021, digital literacy training was provided to 12.5 million people in Indonesia, of whom women made up 52 per cent of the attendees.
At the international negotiating table, discussions on digital literacy and skills for vulnerable groups such as women are also being considered. This subject was brought up through the Digital Economy Working Group under the G20 Indonesia Presidency. “We believe that digital transformation must be inclusive, empowering and sustainable,” she said.
The Secretary-General extended an invitation to both men and women to participate in the empowerment of women and explained the situation of gender imbalance in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) field, which only reached 29 per cent internationally. According to her, the participation of women in Indonesian society has only reached 30 per cent as of the year 2020.
In tandem with the quickening pace of digital transformation, efforts are needed to eliminate gender disparity, particularly in the field of technology. These initiatives involve collaboration from several different parties.
Secretary-General Mira invites all parties to cultivate the potential of women and build a digital landscape that is welcoming to all. She believes that the programme will be able to reach Indonesian women so that they can receive the appropriate help and will continue to have a good impact and be an inspiration as well -not only for the benefit of other women but also for the whole country.
