Kemenkominfo Launches Digital Literacy Program to Boost MSMEs in Sorong

To accelerate digital and technological transformation in Sorong, West Papua, Indonesia, the Ministry of Communication and Information of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemenkominfo) in collaboration with the National Digital Literacy Movement (GLND) Siberkreasi launched a digital literacy program. This program itself is held for the Micro and Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector in Sorong.

In the program, MSMEs were given education by the Expert Staff of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, Teguh Hidayat Iskandar Alam, about digital literacy ranging from optimizing digital technology, social media, to cyber security tips for MSMEs.

According to Teguh, Sorong basically has a high internet penetration rate, where 91% of the people are active internet users. Unfortunately, continued Teguh, the digital literacy capabilities of MSMEs in Eastern Indonesia, including Sorong, are still lacking.

“Based on 2018 data, more than 30% of MSME actors in Eastern Indonesia do not have knowledge of social media. In addition, 40% stated that they do not understand how social media can help their business,” explained Teguh while saying that one of the objectives of the program is to answer the digital literacy problems of MSMEs, as well as provide opportunities for participants to explore the potential of social media for growth. their business.

On the same occasion, MSME actors were also taught to produce inspirational content, which focused on building awareness about the production of high-quality content, using responsible digital technology.

Nicholas Saputra, who is a celebrity as well as a material presenter, explained that digital technology if used properly can empower MSMEs. "By mastering and understanding the use of digital technology, such as photography and videography, MSMEs can be greatly helped to improve their business, as well as provide added value to the products they market," said Nicholas.

Sorong, which is located in Eastern Indonesia itself, is famous for its wealth of natural resources, ranging from the agricultural, fishery, livestock, forestry, mining sectors, to various untapped tourism potentials. The majority of MSMEs in the area come from the retail and trade sectors, followed by the food and beverage sector. Unfortunately, digital literacy in the region is still relatively poor, even more than 70% of MSMEs admit that they have never used the internet to run their business processes.

To increase digital literacy in the area, Digital Literacy Week opened with a two-day hybrid workshop and training in Sorong, West Papua on 23-24 September 2021. During this event, the local community showed very high enthusiasm to participate, with more than 600 participants joined throughout the session.

The Digital Literacy Week session which was held in Sorong also featured various content creation competitions, training classes and free webinars for the general public. Free training classes and webinars on digital literacy can be accessed at info.literasidigital.id.

SOURCE: https://indonesiatimur.id/2021/09/30/kemenkominfo-launch-program-literasi-digital-guna-dongkrak-umkm-di-sorong/