VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

An expert staff of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) Fadjar Dwi Wishnuwardhani. ANTARA/HO-the Presidential Staff Office/sh - 

Internationally recognized vaccine certificate is important for Indonesians traveling abroad, expert staff of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) Fadjar Dwi Wishnuwardhani stated.

The KSP has initiated and overseen the process of issuance of international vaccine certificates for Indonesian overseas travelers and migrant workers, he remarked.

"The discussion on Indonesia's vaccine certificates that are internationally recognized has been conducted since May 2021," Wishnuwardhani noted in a statement, Saturday.

The discussion on international vaccines began after the KSP facilitated a meeting between the Health Ministry, Manpower Ministry, and representatives of prospective migrant workers (CPMI) in early May 2021.

"At that time, we have held discussions related to PCR tests for CPMI departing through the IJEPA (Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement), and the recognition of vaccines and PCR tests for COVID-19 by the Japanese government," he explained.

Since then, he noted that parallel discussions were held regarding the implementation of the evaluation of tests and vaccines for migrant workers as well as resolving the problem of vaccine certificates on PeduliLindungi application that has neither been recognized nor readable by other countries.

"The meeting recommended to the Health Ministry and the Manpower Ministry to take steps, so that Indonesia's COVID-19 vaccine certificate can align with the WHO standards and can be read and recognized by other countries," he stated.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Migrant Worker Placement Agency (Aspataki) Saiful Mahfud has applauded the government for the issuance of internationally recognized vaccine certificates.

"With the issuance of international vaccine certificates, the placement of migrant workers can be started again," he noted.

The Health Ministry, in late January, had issued international vaccine certificates that are in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) standards.

The form and information listed on the certificate has been adjusted to the WHO standards, including its QR code. Hence, the certificate can be read and recognized abroad, it noted.

The certificate that can be downloaded on the PeduliLindungi application can be used by Overseas Travelers (PPLN), including migrant workers and umrah and hajj pilgrims, as proof that they have received complete primary vaccinations//ANT

A worker collects retribution payment through the QRIS scan feature, a realization of digital transformation. ANTARA PHOTO/Nyoman Hendra Wibowo/nz/pri/FR - 

The four main sectors of digital infrastructure, digital government, digital economy, and digital citizens could encourage the acceleration of digital transformation, Communication and Informatics Ministry's (Kominfo's) official noted in a written statement, Saturday.

These four sectors are capable of supporting Indonesia that has the potential to clock the biggest and fastest internet economy development in Southeast Asia, according to Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company's data in 2020.

"Seeing this digital potential, the Kominfo minister created the Digital Indonesia Roadmap 2021-2024 to expedite digital transformation in accordance with the government's directive," the Ministry's Human Resources Research and Development Head, Hary Budiarto, noted.

"We are responsible for the four sectors of digital infrastructure, digital government, digital economy, and digital citizens," he remarked.

According to Budiarto, the people will not develop if the access is closed.

"We strive, so that digital talents from various regions could seize the opportunity. Improvement in digital talents should occur in every region," he remarked.

"Hence, the ministry is developing the backbone, middle mile, and last mile network," he stated.

Within the backbone network, the ministry had built the Palapa Ring spanning a length of 12.229 km that connects 57 districts in Indonesia.

For the middle mile, the ministry will launch the Indonesia Raya Satellite or SATRIA 1, with a capacity of 150 Gbps; 300-Gbps capacity SATRIA 2; and SATRIA 3, with a capacity of 500 Gbps, in 2023, specifically to access fast internet (Wi-Fi) in public services.

Lastly, in the last Mile, the ministry will install 7,904 Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) in villages within the 3T (outermost, remote, and underdeveloped) regions through the Telecommunication and Information Accessibility Agency (BAKTI).

In the digital government sector, the ministry pushes for e-government with the Toward 100 Smart City Movement with six development pillars as the foundation to implement the development program.

These six pillars comprise smart governance, smart infrastructure, smart economy, smart living, smart people, and smart environment.

"We will prioritize 50 cities or districts, 10 tourism destinations, and one new capital city," Budiarto noted//ANT

The Communication and Informatics Ministry launched the Digital Talent Scholarship (DTS) 2022 in Central Java on Wednesday (Jan 26, 2022). ANTARA/HO-Kemenkominfo/am - 

Link and match digital talents are important to fulfill the human resources demand to support the Electronic-Based Government System (SPBE) or E-government, National Information and Communication Technology Council (Wantiknas) member Zainal A. Hasibuan stated.

"It is time for Indonesia to respond effectively to the talent search in accordance with the work market demand system (link and match)," he noted through a press statement on Saturday.

"A gap still exists between the education and business world," he pointed out.

Hasibuan, concurrently the Informatics and Computer High Education Association's (APTIKOM's) chairman, pressed for the country to have its own method to enhance link and match.

"Educators still dominate over students," he highlighted.

Moreover, Hasibuan opined that the current root cause of the problem is that lecturers have not yet kept up with the changing times in the digital era when it comes to education materials.

In addition, students had yet to acclimatize to a proactive learning system with problem solving, project-based learning, and research-based learning.

Lastly, there is also a lack of facilities to support skill sets for the digital era and inadequate infrastructure to support collaborative learning and teamwork.

Hasibuan believes that the solutions for this are not new while calling to strengthen the development of human resources, empower the digital transformation policy as the SPBE human resources' playing field, and encourage universities to produce digital talents on a massive scale.

In addition, others measures encompass fully supporting the Merdeka Belajar-Kampus Merdeka (Freedom in Learning and Campus), implementing computational thinking-based learning starting from an early age in universities, and complementing diploma with competence certification.

Responding to the World Economic Forum's projection that five years from now, machines will replace half of the existing jobs, Hasibuan remarked that whatever types of job currently exist, new skills are still necessary to stay competitive.

"Digital talent or digital skill is a new skill set. Let us align our perception. In simple terms, digital talent is a person's capability to adapt to digital technology," he explained.

It is also the ability to gain an understanding of the existence of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), 3D Printing, Drones, and Robotics.

"We may not be capable of mastering all technologies, but at the very least, based on our ability, there is at least one or two technologies that we could rely on," he affirmed//ANT

2022 Beijing Olympics - Opening Ceremony - National Stadium, Beijing, China. General view outside the Bird's Nest Stadium during the opening ceremony on Feb 4, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Tyrone Siu) - 

South Korean politicians and activists criticised what they called China's "cultural appropriation", after a woman appearing to be wearing Korean traditional dress appeared among those representing China's different ethnic groups during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Games on Friday (Feb 4).

China is home to around 2 million ethnic Koreans, half of whom live on the Chinese side of the North Korean border, and they are a recognised minority group whose language and culture are granted official protection.

South Koreans have expressed ire in the past over recent Chinese claims that some aspects of Korean culture such as kimchi, a Korean side dish made with fermented cabbage, or traditional Korean dress called hanbok, are of Chinese origin.

"We deeply regret that hanbok appeared among the costumes of Chinese minorities at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics," wrote ruling party lawmaker Lee So-young in her Facebook page on Saturday, referring to a woman dressed in a white top and pink dress among people that passed the Chinese flag during the ceremony.

"This is not the first time China has introduced Korean culture as if it were its own... If the anti-China sentiment of the Korean people becomes stronger by leaving this issue as is, it will be a big obstacle when conducting diplomacy with China in the future," Lee said.

Lee Jae-myung, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea candidate for the country's presidential election in March, wrote in his Facebook page late on Friday, "Do not covet (our) culture. Oppose cultural appropriation".

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) called the costume's appearance a "rude" act of appropriating the culture of a sovereign state, which overshadows the Games' slogan of "together for a shared future".

"We cannot remain angry, but make the world more aware of the truth that hanbok is a traditional Korean costume," Seo Kyoung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women's University and activist promoting South Korean culture, wrote in his Instagram account.

Although the South Korean government has not expressed an official statement, Culture Minister Hwang Hee told South Korean media on Saturday that referring to people as a minority means it hasn't become a sovereign country, which could cause "misunderstanding" in bilateral relations, according to Yonhap//CNA