"Indonesia urgently needs a professional workforce in cybersecurity," Secretary General of the ministry Mira Tayyiba said in a press statement issued on Wednesday.
Indonesia still lacks human resources in the cybersecurity field to handle increasingly intensive challenges, she informed.
The ministry cited a BDO survey on information technology talent in Indonesia, which states that nine out ten technology graduates choose to become software developers and only one takes up cybersecurity.
Of the four thousand universities in Indonesia, only ten offer cybersecurity majors.
The lack of cybersecurity human resources has also led to many companies seeking and employing workforce from neighboring or other countries.
"This is despite that, if digital skills intensification is carried out through collaboration between stakeholders, Indonesia can obtain digital potential worth Rp4,500 trillion or 17 percent of Indonesia's gross domestic product in 2030," Tayyiba highlighted.
Amid the increasing number of digital space users, cyber threats have also increased.
According to data provided by the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN), there were more than 700 million cyberattacks in Indonesia in 2021.
"These attacks were dominated by traffic anomalies, with the most frequent anomaly category being malware. Moreover, Indonesia also ranked first in ransomware attacks," she noted.
The ministry is committed to continuing the implementation of the digital skills development program comprehensively, starting from the basic, intermediate, to advanced levels.
To make all programs that produce digital talents a success, the ministry is involving many parties, including the industry, academicians, and non-governmental organizations.
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Translator: Natisha A, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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