The goal is to increase village development, including transforming them into digital villages.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Developing digital villages is a must to create opportunities for promoting and selling products made in the rural areas of Indonesia and to tap their potential, Chief of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) Moeldoko said.

This statement was conveyed by Moeldoko, on Tuesday while receiving Prof. Solomon Darwin, the initiator of the Village Movement and American academician, at the Bina Graha Building in Jakarta.

"This (digital village development) is an effort to open the window to the world," Moeldoko said.

He noted that the Indonesian government has been running a digital village program since 2020. The program is targeting to help all villages in Indonesia go digital by 2025.

Digital village development is inseparable from the commitment of President Joko Widodo's administration to build Indonesia from the outermost regions, he said.

The government is also transferring village funds to support digital village development.

"The goal is to increase village development, including transforming them into digital villages," he explained.

Furthermore, the digital village development program in Indonesia is still not massive, he observed.

He then listed three measures that could help accelerate the development of digital villages, namely, helping rural communities become more digitally literate, providing infrastructure support, and implementing interventions devised by the central and regional governments.

"So the village community knows the benefits of a digital village," he said.

Meanwhile, Prof. Darwin said that the Village Movement and the Indian government have succeeded in developing smart villages in India through the utilization of digital technology.

The development of smart villages has narrowed the development gap between urban and rural areas, he added.

He said that Ajnala village in the Indian state of Punjab has successfully developed several digital applications related to agriculture, health, and education for rural communities.

Related news: Shift in Village Fund use points to rural recovery: minister
Related news: Village Fund boosting coverage of rural development programs: minister








Translator: Rangga J, Kenzu
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2023