"In the middle of April 2018, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been taking advantage of the application to protect Indonesians living overseas, by launching the Safe Travel application with a multi-platform basis," said Achmad Ramadhan who is a representative from the Ministry`s Directorate of Information and Media in Jakarta, Friday.
Before the application, the Ministry also made sure to stay active on its digital platforms including an official website, as well as social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Youtube.
The services, he continued, are not only used in urgent situations, but it also contain practical information that might be needed by Indonesians.
"The App can be downloaded for free and Indonesians will be able to access complete information on various countries across the world, contacts of Indonesian representatives in foreign countries, the applied law and system in each country, local currency, religious centres, tourism destinations and culinary information," he said.
Other important features, he said, include the use of a panic button. In an emergency situation, Indonesians overseas could use the feature to send photos or record videos, and contact the nearest Indonesian representative from their location.
He also added that from the economic side, this application is also hoped to be able to convey the socialization of various activities, such as exhibitions, abroad.
"We hope for this service to create a mutually beneficial business activity," he said.
The Ministry`s commitment in promoting digital diplomacy was once again shown through an educational seminar, bearing the theme Digital Diplomacy, held in Jakarta on Thursday.
The event was a result of the Ministry`s cooperation with Pulse Lab Jakarta, as well as DIPLOFoundation, and was attended by representatives from the Corps Diplomatic, Ministries and Instances, Civil Organisations and the private sector.
Opened by Indonesia`s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, DIPLOFoundation Project Manager for Asia Shita Laksmi stated that the seminar also featured a number of diplomacy practitioners as its speakers, including Deputy Ambassador of Australia to Indonesia Allaster Cox, Ambassador of Denmark to Indonesia Rasmus Abildgaard, Director and Founder of DiploFoundation Professor Jovan Kurbalijda and Head of Pulse Lab Jakarta Derval Usher.
"The Seminar discussed success stories and challenges in digital diplomacy. The influence of digital diplomacy in diplomatic activities was also discuss. Also, there were a number of discussions on daily examples of practicing digital diplomacy," she said.
Reported by Ganet Dirgantara
(UU.KR-ARC/f00)
(UU.KR-ARC/A/KR-ARC/F001) 14-07-2018 06:56:44
Reporter: Aria Cindyara
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
