The development of internet technology greatly affects many aspects of the world, especially related to the provision of information and communication, political, economic and socio-cultural. Regarding the provision of information and communication, we can experience its convenience and velocity in providing and obtaining information that facilitates the emergence of innovations in the business world accelerating the economic growth rate as well as simplifies human interaction.
The G20 Ministers responsible for the digital economy, met in Düsseldorf on 6–7 April 2017 recognise that the digital economy is an increasingly important driver of global inclusive economic growth and plays a significant role in accelerating economic development, enhancing productivity of existing industries, cultivating new markets and industries and achieving inclusive sustainable growth and development. G20 countries recognise the important role that SMEs and start-ups play in their economies, including women-owned SMEs and start-ups
The growth of the internet is seen from the increase in penetration or the significant number of internet users from the global point of view. In 2017, based on data from Internet World Stats, internet users have reached 49.6% of the world's population where this figure has increased 933.8% from 2000.
To capture the digital economy opportunities, however, policy makers will need to prioritize building the backbone infrastructure (including fiber connections and mobile networks) that can provide universal and low-cost Internet access. As private players are unlikely to undertake the full scope of this build-out, governments will have to drive this effort forward; those that do could secure a deep and lasting advantage. Additional challenges include establishing a policy framework for data sharing, online privacy, and cybersecurity as well as supporting Small and Medium-scaled Enterprises (SMEs) in technology adoption. (Source: “Southeast Asia at the Crossroads: Three Paths to Prosperity”, McKinsey Global Institute).
Across the region, SMEs account for more than 95 percent of all enterprises and generate more than 50 percent of domestic employment. Supporting their adoption of information technologies, including e-commerce, could bring about significant economic growth. While many multinationals are actively incorporating new technologies into their processes, SMEs tend to be much further behind and have limited awareness of how emerging technologies could be relevant for their businesses; as a result, they are often less productive and competitive than their larger counterparts.
Indonesia as a part of Southeast Asia as well as Asia-Pacific is also one of the countries where e-commerce industry is growing both from manufacturers’ side and buyers. The development of online transaction cannot be separated from the increasing number of internet users in Indonesia. According to the APJII (Indonesian Internet Service Provider Association) data in 2016, internet users in Indonesia have reached 132.7 million people or 51.8% of the total population of Indonesia with it dominant penetration is in Java by 65%. The figure makes Indonesia the fifth highest country in the world in terms of the number of internet users after China, India, the United States and Brazil.
SMEs are one of the most important pillars in maintaining the Indonesia's GDP integrity through majority-owned contribution, which is 60.34% of the total GDP of Indonesia in 2016. Not only have the role in helping the economic growth and development, SMEs also have an important contribution to overcoming the problem of unemployment and inequality. The study of World Bank said that by doubling broadband penetration rates and encouraging SMEs involvement digitally can boost Indonesia's annual economic growth by 2% to achieve the 7% growth target as a middle-income country by 2025.
For achieving several visions, missions and goals mentioned above, Indonesia would like to propose several questions to be discussed comprehensively in this Internet Governance Forum (IGF) then could be followed by more formal discussions and resolutions through the United Nations (UN) mechanism to facilitate cooperation on global SMEs development.
a) What are the programs, initiatives or policies of multistakeholder to improve the country’s economy based on well-adopted IT by SMEs?
b) How to develop national digital ecosystem to ensure SMEs can have proper position and bargaining power with global player (Multinasional Corporation)?
c) Which policy should be prioritized to harness the adoption of IT by SME’s: Cybersecurity? Personal Data Protection? Financial inclusiveness? Else?
Tag 1:
Multistakeholder Cooperation Tag 2:
Digital Economy Tag 3:
Digital Inclusion Name(s) of Speaker(s):
a) Mariam F. Barata, Secretary Directorate General ICT Application, MCIT Indonesia
b) Business Sector from Indonesia (Indonesia e-Commerce Association / IDEA)
c) Government Representative from Brazil and/or China
d) Business Sector from Multinational Corporation
e) Civil Society from Consumer Rights / Protection Name of Online Moderator:
Sindy Nur Fitri, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Indonesia. Background Paper:
Past IGF Participation: Yes
Report Link: http://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/igf-2016-day-4-room-7-of48-indonesia
Name:
Ms. Mariam Barata Organizational Affiliation:
Ministry of Information and Communications Technology
