VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has endeavored to close the digital skills gap in Asia-Pacific by 2025 through collaboration, noted a written statement issued by the APEC Human Resources Development Working Group, received in Jakarta, Wednesday.

A survey on digital skills in the workforce revealed that job seekers are currently ill-prepared to work in the digital economy since they do not possess the requisite skills.

According to the Closing Digital Skills Gap survey, 75 percent of the respondents – constituting employers, government officials, and academics – report a significant skills mismatch. In the absence of more upskilling programs to increase digital expertise, the survey has cautioned that several workers might lose their jobs to automation.

"Skills mismatches hurt workers and the broader economy. Productivity declines when key jobs remain vacant. The APEC requires more skills training programs to reduce the global shortage of highly skilled workers that may soon exceed 38 million people," Chair of the APEC Human Resources Development Working Group Dong Sun Park remarked.

Park made the statement at the 2019 APEC Closing the Digital Skills Gap Forum, which launched the survey prepared by Wiley, an education and professional training solutions provider.

The forum, being held in Singapore, has brought together representatives from 16 APEC economies to explore policy options that can boost digital skills and the digital economy – a key priority set by Chile, the APEC 2019 host.

The digital economy is rapidly evolving, but education systems are failing to keep up and adapt at the same pace. As a result, several companies and organizations across many sectors, from healthcare to financial services and retail, are unable to fill positions requiring skills in data collection and analytics – and the vacancies cost billions of dollars of lost revenue annually.

However, over half the survey respondents acknowledged that the curricula at several academic institutions fail to adequately bring digital skills into classrooms.

More than 50 percent of the respondents also report that government agencies possess a low understanding of the digital skills landscape.

"It was an eye-opener to learn that up to 45 percent of the survey respondents said that they do not update job requirements every year. Let’s track these insights, so we can prepare the right strategies to close the skills gap and foster more growth and prosperity across the region," Andrew Tein, chief of staff to the CEO at Wiley and co-chair of the forum, remarked.

Hence, at the forum, participants finalized a roadmap to support and increase upskilling and reskilling programs carried out by employers, governments, and educational institutions across APEC.

Implementation of the roadmap builds upon the work of APEC’s Data Analytics and Raising Employment initiative, or Project DARE, which developed and implemented a set of industry-driven recommended actions to strengthen data science and analytics competencies, or DSA.

The Project DARE framework has informed the work of eight universities, companies, and associations to date, including the Analytics Association of the Philippines, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), and Ho Chi Minh University of Technology and Education (HCMUTE).

"With the imminent need to facilitate the transition of workforce in the age of disruption, Project DARE provides a tripartite platform for governments, academia, and businesses across APEC economies to discuss human capital development in data science and analytics," Dean of HKUST’s School of Business and Management Kar Yan Tam remarked.

"This platform connects all of us closely together to manage the transformation wisely," he stated.

The roadmap also recommends the sharing of government statistical methodologies and best practices owing to insufficient information on how governments track and organize data on their workforce. Increased sharing of information and best practices can facilitate the establishment of a more standardized approach to upskilling. (ANTARA)

Indonesia, Britain and Australia, along with the International Air Transportation Association discussed efforts to increase air cargo security at a workshop in Tarakan, North Kalimantan province.

The workshop is expected to provide positive inputs to improve airborne cargo and the postal security system in Indonesia, Director General of Air Transportation of the Indonesian Transportation Ministry, Polana B Pramest, said in a written statement released on Tuesday.

"In addition to strengthening the regulation of airborne cargo transport, the workshop is also expected to enhance cooperation between Indonesia and other countries in the aviation industry and enable Indonesia to forge cooperation with other countries in the aviation industry and keep abreast of the development of aviation technology, particularly in improving the air cargo security system," she said.

The five-day workshop which opened in Jakarta on Monday will discuss standards and recommended practices related to the responsibility for air cargo and postal security against unlawful acts, in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization, Annex 17 concerning Flight Safety and Aviation Security Manuals (Doc 8973) in general.

Director of Flight Security, Dadun Kohar, opened the workshop, which was also attended by Aviation Security Liaison Officer of the British Embassy, Elizabeth Mehmood, and First Secretary for Transport, Risk and International Matters of the Australian Embassy, David Scott.

During the workshop, the participants will discuss the risks and threats of cargo transport and responsibility for cargo and postal transport security against unlawful acts based on Annex 17 and Doc 8973. (ANTARA)

The Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) presented a learning house digital platform during a conference session of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Council in Selangor, Malaysia, Tuesday, July 23, 2019. A learning house, also known as Rumah Belajar, is a learning portal prepared by the ministry and contains more than 12,934 items in the form of study materials.

"With Rumah Belajar, everyone can access learning content. It can also be a media to share learning content with other countries," Secretary-General of the Ministry of Education and Culture Didik Suhardi said.

The SEAMEO Council meeting was attended by ministers and high officials of education ministries from member countries.

With Rumah Belajar, everyone can study anywhere, anytime, and with everyone. It can be accessed through applications or sites. In the application, there are at least 40,000 items of study materials in the form of videos, presentations, audio, and question banks.

In Indonesia, Rumah Belajar has been accessed by 24.6 million users. It is targeting an increase in the number of visitors to 50 million in a short time.

The ministry would make learning content on Rumah Belajar available in an English version as well. It is expected to attract more children, especially from ASEAN member countries.

The 50th SEAMEO Council Conference was held in Selangor, Malaysia, July 22 to 25. The SEAMEO consists of 10 member states of ASEAN and Timor Leste.

The SEAMEO Council is a binding policy-making council for its members including the program and the organization's budget must be approved by the Council. (ANTARA)

Governor of Jakarta Anies Baswedan received a visit from Palestinian Ambassador to Indonesia Zuhair Al Shun and his delegation at the City Hall, in Jakarta, on Monday.

The visit was aimed at exploring cooperation in the economic field between Palestine and the capital city of Indonesia.

"I hope that the relations between Indonesia and Palestine would become closer through trade ties between the two countries. As we have already established people-to-people ties and diplomatic relations, business-to-business ties remain to be intensified," Baswedan remarked, adding that Palestine holds a special place in the hearts of Indonesian people.

By forging mutual cooperation in business, Palestine will have an opportunity to introduce its products -- dates, olive oil, and baklava -- to Jakarta's residents.

The governor invited Palestine to participate in a people's bazaar to be organized along Sudirman-MH Thamrin Boulevards, Jakarta, in September this year.

The governor vowed to provide facilities, such as information and business permits, required by Palestinian businessmen to market their products. (ANTARA)