VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta - Indonesia has a great opportunity to become a country that can develop world digital innovation, Minister of Research and Technology Bambang Brodjonegoro said. "There are opportunities, which certainly must be more technopreneur or entrepreneur who has a base in the field of technology," Bambang Brodjonegoro said in Jakarta, Wednesday.

Because, the technopreneur will push digital technology into becoming a business, he said. Then, if there are already entrepreneurs, in the next stage they must be able to survive by using the concept of research and development.

After that, entrepreneurs must also conduct strong research and development. The research must be supported by adequate human resources to compete with other countries.

"This is the goal to be able to compete with other companies from other countries," he said.

A group of talented people in the field of information technology must be encouraged to allow Indonesia to advance in the digital sector, the minister said.

"The second focus is to encourage more entrepreneurs in the country. This second combination is needed," the minister said.

The issue of human resources becomes a big factor which until now still hampered Indonesia from becoming a big player in the field of research and innovation, according to the minister.

Therefore, Indonesia must begin to measure human resources, including the millennials, so that they can later be at the forefront to encourage research and innovation in the country.

Nevertheless, to develop human resources in the field of research is not an easy matter. The level of education and the quality of education must be followed, Bambang claimed.

Indonesia has recorded the highest growth in the digital economy among ASEAN member countries, with 90 percent of growth from 2015 to 2017, Deputy of Infrastructure of the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) Hari Santosa Sungkari earlier said.

"During the 2015 to 2017 period, the growth of Indonesia's digital economy reached almost 90 percent," Sungkari told reporters on the sidelines of the Bekraf Developer Day 2019 here Sunday.

Transactions through e-commerce platforms were mostly conducted by creative industry players and small and medium scale entrepreneurs, he said.

In 2017, e-commerce transactions in Indonesia reached US$8 million, of which US$5 million were made through online stores such as Bukalapak, Tokopedia, and others.

"The interesting fact is that of the US$5 million (transactions), the sellers were small firms led by women," he added. (ANTARA)