VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A screenshot of Kamaruddin Amin from Religious Affairs Ministry in discussion of Acceleration of Digital Economy Downstreaming as seen in Jakarta, August 13, 2021.(ANTARA/Asep Firmansyah/my) - 

The Religious Affairs Ministry has lauded the Communication and Informatics Ministry for roping it in for its talent development program, which aims to help the nation meet the urgent need for digital transformation.

"The Religious Affairs Ministry's involvement means an important thing, and it gives enlightenment on the topic of digital transformation," Kamaruddin Amin from the Religious Affairs Ministry said during an online discussion here on Friday.

The Communication and Informatics Ministry has three important agendas, he informed. The first is digital literacy education, which aims to hone public digital literacy skills, so that they are not easily influenced by harmful digital content, he said.

Under the second agenda, the Communication and Informatics Ministry has rolled out a Digital Talent Scholarship program for university students, general public, professionals, teachers, and vocational students, and state apparatuses, he added.

Under the third agenda, it has set up a Digital Leadership Academy, he said. The program aimed at civil state apparatuses and private parties will be conducted from August to November this year for a maximum of 300 participants, he added.

The Religious Affairs Ministry will participate in the Communication and Informatics Ministry's digital literacy program and the Digital Entrepreneurship Academy, Amin disclosed.

The Religious Affairs Ministry has thousands of important religious figures who can act as agents against counterproductive narratives spread among the public, he said. Such narratives often spread among the public without their full understanding or comprehension, he added.

"The Religious Affairs Ministry has a big significance. Because our people, the agents of Religious Affairs Ministry, especially religious moderation agents, will spread religious messages, nationalistic messages," Amin said.

Meanwhile, director of Diniyah Education and Islamic Boarding School, Waryono Abdul Ghofur, said that lack of infrastructure is a problem that will need to be addressed before Islamic boarding schools can be digitalized and participate in the Digital Entrepreneurship Academy.

He said he expects the Communication and Informatics Ministry to consider and resolve the issue so that the program can be conducted smoothly.

"We appreciate (the initiative), though we have to inform that our schools are mostly in villages. One of the problems is the internet connection, even though the Communication and Informatics Ministry tried to fix internet coverage in villages," he added.

Ghofur said that despite the technical difficulty, Islamic boarding schools fully support the Digital Entrepreneurship Academy program, given that they are adaptive to new changes, and the program is in accordance with their own Islamic boarding schools independence program//ANT