Technology Becomes Creative Economy Mover, Creative Economy Affirms Digital Is Not A Substitute For Human Talenta

Minister of Creative Economy / Creative Economy Agency (Menekraf) Teuku Riefky Harsya. (Photo: Special)

JAKARTA - Minister of Creative Economy/Creative Economy Agency (Menekraf) Teuku Riefky Harsya emphasized that digital technology must be a driving force, not a substitute for human talent in the national creative industry.

This affirmation was conveyed at the 2025 Creative Economy Developer Day (BDD) in Bandung, Saturday, November 22, 2025, which was attended by more than 1,000 selected developers out of a total of 2,300 registrants.

Teuku Riefky said that digital-based creativity has a role in advancing the region. The spirit of the 2025 BDD is a meeting room for digital creative economy drivers from various cities and regencies to build Indonesia's creative future.

"The BDD program does not only provide technical training, but also forms a digital entrepreneurial character so that Indonesian talents are able to become creators of digital products, not just users," he said in an official statement, Sunday, November 23.

Furthermore, Teuku Riefky added, the development of application sub-sectors which are now recording the highest investment value shows the huge potential of Indonesia's digital economy.

He said the achievement of creative economy investment this year has reached 66 percent of the annual target.

"President Prabowo left a message so that the younger generation of Indonesia can adapt, innovate digitally, and seek relevance in the progress of the times without leaving the nation's identity behind," he said.

West Java is a priority province for creative economy development. Based on BPS 2025 data, this region contributes 6.24 million creative workers, the highest in Indonesia.

The city of Bandung also won the highest score in the western Indonesian Digital Community Index and received the The Most Attractive Investment Project award at the West Java Investment Summit (WJIS) 2025.

West Java Provincial Secretary Herman Suryatman said that the development of a creative ecosystem requires a combination of three factors.

The creative economy is Indonesia's future. The key to managing the creative industry is talent, technology, and tolerance. Not only taking advantage of existing opportunities, but also creating digital opportunities for the creative economy," said Herman.

Meanwhile, Deputy for Digital Creativity and Technology at the Ministry of Creative Economy, Muhammad Neil El Himam, explained that the Indonesian developer ecosystem has a great advantage in terms of massive talent, a agile innovation culture, and the largest digital market in Southeast Asia.

"The strength of digital talents in Indonesia must be directed to have global competitiveness so that the future of the creative economy becomes an important pillar of national economic growth," said Neil.

For your information, the event, which was held at the Trans Convention Center, The Trans Luxury Hotel, Bandung, continued the positive response from the 2024 BDD in Bandung and Yogyakarta.

Since 2016, this program has trained more than 225.000 participants, making it one of the largest digital talent development programs in Southeast Asia.

BDD 2025 carries the theme 'Accelerating Creative Transformation Through Digital Talent' as well as collaboration with Dicoding as Google Developers and Google Cloud's official partners in Indonesia.

This event is also a meeting room between the government and the developer community to encourage the birth of new creativity in the field of applications, websites and the internet of things (IoT) through global industry standard-based training.

In the 2025 Bandung BDD event, the Ministry of Creative Economy presented three learning pathways designed to answer the needs of the technology ecosystem which continues to change rapidly.

Participants can choose the Mobile Development track, Full-Stack Development, or Artificial Intelligence, three fields that are now the main foundation of digital economic growth.

The learning patterns offered are not just technical courses, but a comprehensive experience that connects participants with industry practices, real cases, and the latest developments in the world of technology.

The Ministry of Creative Economy considers strengthening developer capacity to be a strategic element to maintain Indonesia's competitiveness.

For almost a decade, the BDD program has coached more than 215,000 participants since 2016.

This makes one of the largest digital talent development programs in Southeast Asia.

Through the 2025 BDD, the government hopes that more technology creators will be born who are not only ready to work, but are able to lead digital transformation and strengthen Indonesia's startup ecosystem to the global level.