Huawei takes active part in digital literacy for Indonesian women

Young Indonesian women need to improve their digital literacy as this will help them stay safe online and improve their career prospects, senior government executives said in a recent forum in Jakarta.

Rizky Ameliah, digital literacy coordinator at Indonesia's Ministry of Communications and Informatics, said the youth needs to be more careful when putting their personal information and sharing content online.

"You create your own (digital) status. Then you need to always verify the (online) information and the TikTok videos you get. Don't just share them," Ameliah told about 200 female students attending the forum at the Sunda Kelapa Mosque on March 26. The students came from Islamic boarding schools and vocational education centers in Jakarta and West Java province. Students from other provinces have also virtually joined the forum.

Ameliah said the ministry's anti-hoax section has blocked numerous forms of illegal content flowing out from various online sites and social media accounts.

Ameliah was one of the speakers in the forum on digital literacy for students of the school. The forum was organized by Huawei Indonesia, an affiliate of China's Huawei Technologies Co, in cooperation with Indonesia's presidential staff office and government authorities.

Huawei executives including Chen Kan, vice-president of Huawei Indonesia, were at the event. The forum is part of a series of activities that Huawei organizes every year for such students during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. Indonesia is the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation.

Nahdiana, director for training courses at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, said digital literacy needs to uphold strong ethics and promote harmony in diversity, alluding to the Indonesian motto "bhinneka tunggal ika" or unity in diversity.

Nahdiana also discussed gender equality, noting that "technology must not differentiate males from females".

Erlinda, a senior expert staff at the presidential staff office, said that the Indonesian government is very "serious, clear and detailed" in its plan to develop human resources. She encouraged students to become "positive influencers" and to aspire to "become entrepreneurs who can even go international".

Erlinda said the government has an action plan for youth development as this is part of the 2025-45 National Long-Term Development Plan. Under the Golden Indonesia 2045 Vision, Southeast Asia's biggest economy aims to be a sovereign, advanced, fair and prosperous nation by 2045 – the year when Indonesia commemorates its 100 years of independence. Indonesian President Joko Widodo expects his country to become one of the five largest economies by 2045.

Alisya Nistianingrum, a student SMKIT Nurul Qolbi, a vocational school in West Java, said that attending the forum has enhanced her knowledge of both the positive and negative impact of digital technology.

Abdul Haris, director general of higher learning education at the education ministry, has complimented Huawei for training Indonesia's digital talent.

"I would like to express my highest appreciation to Huawei Indonesia that has given room to santris (students at these schools) to have much more knowledge about the digital world, which in the future will become the most appropriate or the most strategic step for us to provide our children with digital literacy," Haris said in an interview.

Damar Harsanto, spokesperson of Huawei Indonesia, said that the company has long maintained its mission of sharing information and communications technology with the Indonesian people.

"Huawei Indonesia will continue to strengthen our commitment to contribute advanced technology, knowledge and expertise in the field of ICT (information and communications technology) for the connectivity of the majority of the Indonesia people and the advancement of Indonesia," Harsanto said.

In the past three years Huawei Indonesia has trained over 102,000 students in cooperation with the government, industries and the academe, helping Indonesia to narrow its digital gap, according to company data.

Prime Sarmiento in Hong Kong contributed to this story.