We need digital talents from various sectors such as programming, software engineering, software development, cloud computing, and AI.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - An official from the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs on Monday said that Indonesia will need nine million digital talents in the next seven years to support the development of its digital economy.

"We still need around nine million digital talents by 2030," the ministry's Deputy for Digital Economy, Employment, and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Coordination, Rudy Salahuddin, said at the "Media Briefing: Launch of the White Book on the National Strategy for Digital Economic Development" in Jakarta on Monday.

Currently, in terms of human resources (HR), there is a need for experts in digital fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing development, he informed.

However, he said, the rapid changes caused by technological development are creating challenges.

Therefore, Salahuddin suggested changes in the curriculum to build students' analytical, quantitative, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) skills.

"We need that change for our future generation. Maybe later, we can push the curriculum to move towards there instead of in social studies. It will depend on our next government," he said.

He noted that the government is collaborating with information technology (IT) companies such as Apple Academy, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), and Microsoft.

Recently, the Singhasari Special Economic Zone (KEK) in Malang district signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the globally-recognized King's College London (KCL), which is based in England, he added.

"We need digital talents from various sectors such as programming, software engineering, software development, cloud computing, and AI," Salahuddin informed.

The value of Indonesia's digital economy is continuing to grow and has been recorded as the highest in Southeast Asia. This year, the value of Indonesia's digital economy reached US$82 billion, and it is estimated to reach US$109 billion in 2025. Moreover, Indonesia has 40 percent of Southeast Asia's digital economy market share.


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Translator: Bayu Saputra, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Arie Novarina
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