At The G20 Meeting, Indonesia Schedules Three Priority Issues

JAKARTA - Minister of Communication and Information (Kemkominfo) Johnny G Plate conveyed that there are three priority issues at the G20 Presidency next year, including post-COVID-19 recovery and data flow across countries.

"Indonesia conveys three priority issues in the digital sector in the 2022 G20 Presidency, namely: post-COVID-19 recovery and connectivity; digital literacy and digital skills; and cross-border data flow," said the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Johnny G. Plate, in a press statement, quoted Monday 9 August.

Indonesia is scheduled to become the Presidency for the G20 Ministerial Meeting for Digital Sector in 2022. The issues to be raised are a reflection of the theme of the G20 Indonesia Presidency later, namely "Recover Together, Recover Stronger". These three priority issues are expected to encourage economic recovery and connectivity after the coronavirus pandemic.

"The Indonesian government's commitment to highlighting the progress of startups as a catalyst in accelerating economic recovery. In this context, Indonesia will continue one of Italy's programs at the G20, namely the Digital Innovation League as a Digital Innovation Network," said Johnny.

The Digital Innovation League will facilitate startups to expand their reach, build collaborations and collaboration possibilities with the best venture capitalists across G20 member countries.

Meanwhile, digital skills and digital literacy are needed to make the ecosystem more proficient. Indonesia will seek to strengthen the digital ecosystem through the empowerment of digital businesses and digital communities.

"As one of our efforts, Indonesia aims for the development of a G20 document to measure digital skills and digital literacy. This document provides a framework for identifying digital skills demanded by society and industry, and serves as a reference document for all members," said Johnny.

For the third focus, Indonesia will facilitate intensive discussions to bridge the views of various G20 member countries regarding cross-border data flow and data free flow with trust.

"Indonesia will also study and explore different understandings of the principles of transparency, legitimacy, fairness and reciprocity and how they are applied to this issue," said Johnny G Plate.

The G20 Ministerial Meeting for Digital Sector, which was held virtually, lasted until last Thursday 5 August. The delegation agreed on the Declaration of the G20 Ministers for Digital Sector, containing 11 priority issues.

The issues are digital transformation for sustainable growth; the use of artificial intelligence in the development of startups and SMEs; measurement, practice and impact of the digital economy; consumer protection in the global digital economy; empowering and protecting children in the digital ecosystem; development of innovations for Smart Cities and communities; social connectivity and inclusion; cross-border data flows; digital tools for the development of public services and their sustainability; digital identity; and regulations that are able to respond to the development of innovation and industry.