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Governor of Jambi, Al Haris. (ANTARA/HO-Diskominfo Jambi/FR) - 

Governor Al Haris has said he expects the smart village program of the Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration Ministry in Jambi Province to aid the advancement of villages.

"I expect that after the smart village program is fully implemented, it will effect an advancement of villages by utilizing existing resources and producing innovative human resources through digitalization," he remarked here on Saturday in response to Jambi being selected for the program.

The smart village program is a part of the Government Strengthening and Village Development Program (P3PD).

According to the ministry's Competitiveness Development Center head, Helmiati, P3PD aims to improve rural institutional capacity and accountability through the unveiling of a new system based on technology.

"Bolstering village's capacity and accountability is expected to be able to improve the quality of village fund utilization, which would reduce poverty, unemployment, and improve the effectiveness of village development," she explained.

As part of P3PD, the ministry will focus on bolstering people's empowerment, social accountability, and local-based development solutions, Helmiati informed.

Smart Village is a development approach concept for encouraging villages to carry out a transformation through technology utilization, she said.

The goal of the program is to improve the quality of basic services and village development, based on inclusive and sustainable empowerment of the people, she added.

This can be done by improving the capability of human resources in utilizing technology effectively to drive the creation of innovative local developmental solutions, she said.

The program would also encourage the construction of smart village networks that involve various stakeholders sustainably to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), she added.

"The achievement of the SDGs on the national level is inseparable from the role on the micro-level, namely villages," Helmiati stressed.

"The number of villages that reached 74,961 became proof that the power of villages should be considered in its contribution toward Indonesia's advancement," she affirmed//ANT