Industry Players, Academics, and Government Talk About the Future of Digital Talent

At the "Commemoration of 40 Years of Informatics Education" organized by the Informatics Alumni Association (IAIF) ITB, stakeholders (stakeholders) represented from the industrial sector, academia, and the government sat together and discussed the future digital talent in Indonesia.

In his remarks, the Deputy Dean of Academics at STEI ITB, Saiful Akbar, highlighted how Indonesia can produce quality and quality of talent according to the field of its graduates.

"This is the main question. The need for great talent, but efforts to develop talent may not be much. Informatics is a discipline that does not require citizenship, where can it be obtained," said Saiful.

The issue of digital talent inequality, both in terms of number and ability, is not a new topic. Since the growth of the digital economy in the country, the stakeholder have been voicing this issue for a long time. Moreover, Indonesia is predicted to become the largest digital economy market in Southeast Asia. Steps to zoom out gap must be done immediately.

Based on research in 2019, Indonesia is estimated to need 9 million digital talents in 2030 or produce 600 thousand talents per year. In addition, Indonesia is predicted to receive a demographic bonus, ie 70% of the total population will be in the productive age in 2045. This productive age group will become the driving force of the country's economy.

The challenge is that the number of workers of productive age is considered unbalanced with the level of quality of the workforce, especially in the field of technology. In fact, Indonesia is 'fun' to taste digital acceleration.

As an additional illustration, quoting iNews, IT graduates in Indonesia from hundreds of universities and vocational schools in IT study programs are no less than 400 thousand people every year. The majority of these graduates are considered to have not met the HR qualifications required by the industry.

Digital Startup Coordinator of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics Sonny Hendra Sudaryana added that the government has carried out its role with the main task of connecting people in Indonesia. The government encourages industry players to build network infrastructure, one of which is through the Palapa Ring program.

In terms of capacity development, the government is also trying to accommodate this need through a number of initiatives through the Digital Literacy Academy, Startup Studio, 1000 Startups, and Digital Literacy National Movement programs.

This initiative was taken to facilitate and accelerate the improvement of digital talent capabilities, from basic, intermediate, to advanced stages. "Indonesia's largest digital economy in Southeast Asia. In the next few years, we will have 5G, electric cars, metaverse. So we have to be prepared considering technological developments continue to change," he said.

Collaboration

Meanwhile, Microsoft Indonesia Country Engineering Lead, Irving Hutagalung, highlighted the phenomenon skill gaps on digital talent in Indonesia. According to him, this issue is no less important than simply fixating on the quantity of digital talent.

According to him, this issue has also been voiced by Microsoft customers and partners in Indonesia, who demand that talent quality better. "Ten years later, I still get the same input, so nothing is different. Educational institutions will definitely continue to produce graduates. So, skill still need to be improved. This is not talking about soft skill," he added.

In addition, Irving also highlighted the importance of industry involvement to bridge the gap skill gaps between college graduates and what employers expect. According to him, it is not appropriate if the campus aims to produce graduates who are ready to work, but instead prepares the foundation for the right way of thinking.

"I see that currently Indonesia is still at the stage of questioning what the government's role is in this issue. For me, industry must be actively involved, not just hoping for campuses to fix everything," he said.

One of the efforts made by Microsoft is to collaborate with a number of stakeholders to improve the capabilities of digital talent, namely corporate, university, digital natives, and communities that are expected to reach the middle class. underserved.

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Disclosure: DailySocial.id is a media partner for the 40th Anniversary of Informatics Education