VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia`s 12 initiatives in the fields of information and communication technology received awards from the UN during the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2018 in Geneva, an official informed Antara in Jakarta, Wednesday ( 21 MArch ).

"The awards are given by the UN`s International Telecommunication Union (ITU) during the WSIS 2018 Forum," the Indonesian permanent representative noted in a written statement received by Antara in Jakarta.

The awards ceremony is being held at the ITU Headquarter in Geneva on Mar 19-23. On Mar 20, ITU Secretary General Houlin Zhaoi had presented the awards to Indonesian Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Hasan Kleib. The ceremony was attended by some high-ranking officials and representatives of world bodies, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO). During the ceremony, some delegations of the Information and Communication Ministry, Foreign Affairs Ministry, South Halmahera district government, Pemalang district government, and other stakeholders were seen among the invitees.

The ambassador, who is also serving as the permanent representative to the WTO and other international bodies in Geneva, expressed hope that the awards would boost the development of information technology in Indonesia.

"In 2017, Indonesia had received four awards, and this year, we won 12 of them. This is incredible that our innovation in information and communication technology has been highly lauded by the UN," Kleib remarked.

As a forum for sharing updates and innovation on information and communication technology, the WSIS has regularly awarded initiatives in 18 categories. Before receiving the awards, these initiatives will be carefully reviewed by experts from around the world.

For the "Government Portal for Viralable Public Policy Communication" category, the award was presented to the "Indonesiabaik.id" website.

The other awards are from the categories of E-Health, E-Employment, E-Agriculture, Capacity Building, Access to Information & Knowledge, Information & Communication Infrastructure, as well as the Role of Government and All Stakeholders in the Promotion of ICTs for Development.

In the past years, the UN had awarded the WSIS prize to all its members from around the world in a bid to support the acceleration programs to realize the Sustainable Development Goals.( antara )

Who does not want to take a morning walk with number-one person in this country? Perhaps, every citizen dreams of it. Taking a walk while having conversation with the head of the State is certainly not a regular moment. A number of Indonesians in Australia and New Zealand got the opportunity. They took a morning walk with President Joko Widodo.

In a busy schedule to visit Australia and New Zealand, President Joko Widodo took the morning walk with 18 young people from several areas in Indonesia's Indonesia-Australia Youth Interfaith Dialogue in Sydney. The morning walk was interspersed with various things, including music and sports that the President liked. In particular, President Joko Widodo delivered a message to them to be agents of tolerance and peace who could tell about Indonesia's diverse ethnic, diverse religions, diverse regional languages ​​but Indonesia is still one to a great nation.

In New Zealand, the morning walk was the first agenda of President Joko Widodo. 29 Indonesian students in New Zealand, including 15 from Papua, had the opportunity to accompany President Joko Widodo in the morning around the Water Front. In a casual discussion after taking a walk, various topics were discussed; thanksgiving from the Papuan youths was expressed to President Joko Widodo who pays special attention to Papua.

Why does President Joko Widodo choose the morning walk as a media to discuss with the youths? Of course, there are many reasons. President Joko Widodo is fond of the morning walk. It could be another reason for wanting to start the day with a good one. An exciting walk without a tight security and a relaxed conversation can be a medium to know the problems that occur in the community. In a relaxed and fresh mood, complaints, ideas, suggestions, or criticisms can be presented openly. Possibly, what is expressed can be a tool for further discussion in a more formal forum.

The morning walk is not just used by President Joko Widodo to meet with local people. One year ago, a 30-minute morning walk with Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull around the Sydney Opera House became part of his visit to Australia. Diplomacy of the morning walk has become one of the powerful ways to improve the relationship between the two countries in the future.

On several occasions, President Joko Widodo did use morning-time moments to meet directly with local communities. 

The time that he spends is not too long to see and meet directly with the public through the morning walk, and this can be additional information for each policy that he will decide. The move can also be done by the regional heads, such as governors, mayors and regents to find out the real problems in the area he or she leads. The morning walk of President Joko Widodo not only gives a healthy effect to his body, but also makes Indonesian nation healthier.

The Indonesian government and Switzerland have cooperated on vocational education development through Skill for Competitiveness program (S4C), which is aimed at linking teaching process in the level of polytechnic school with the business sector.

"The cooperation is held in several polytechnic schools, such as in metal, furniture, and food sectors," Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education Mohamad Nasir stated here on Tuesday.

The program will implement the Dual Vocational Education and Training (D-VET) system that is implemented by Swiss. The minister noted that the program was a breakthrough to support polytechnic revitalization program. The revitalization can improve the competence of vocational students.

"We hope the cooperation can fulfill the need for skilled workers in the industrial sector and minimize the ability gap," Nasir remarked.

The improvement will be carried out by changing the education curriculum to adapt with industrial necessity, retooling, and retraining polytechnic lecturers. The cooperation is needed to support polytechnic graduates to be experts in the industrial sector. Nasir hoped that the industry can assist with the learning process and the availability of lecturers in polytechnic institutions.

Meanwhile, the Swiss Ambassador to Indonesia, Yvonne Bauman, revealed that the program was an effort by the Swiss to support Indonesia in improving the quality of the students, in order to ease unemployment and boost Indonesia`s economy. ( antara )