Technological Developments Keep Happening, Jokowi: Don't Be Just A User But A Creator

President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo (Photo: Setkab)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said that Indonesia should not only be a technology user. He wanted, in the midst of the rapid development of technology, society would also play a role in technology development.

"We should not only be smart digital users. We must be able to print smart digital specialists, create reliable, competitive and competitive technology," said Jokowi at the opening of the National Development Planning Conference which was broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat YouTube, Tuesday, May 4.

This needs to be done, said Jokowi, so that Indonesia can get the maximum benefit from technological developments which are currently increasingly rapid. Not only that, development needs to be done so that the country is ready to face increasingly fierce world competition.

"Facing increasingly fierce world competition, speed, accuracy and efficiency are important foundations for us to compete," he said.

"Planners must really consider the development of science and technology, it should be and we must also become part of the technology producers themselves," added the former Governor of DKI Jakarta.

Jokowi said, currently technological developments have penetrated into various fields. In the financial sector, financial technology (fintech) companies are mushrooming and are the answer to the needs of modern society.

Next, in the health sector there are more and more health tech companies. This technology has evolved from conducting remote examinations to carrying out medical actions by utilizing artificial intelligence.

"Diagnosis for the implementation of treatment, for precycion medicine, to remote surgery soon will be able to be done anywhere," he said.

Likewise in the field of education. Jokowi said that distance learning is now a necessity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

So, seeing these developments, he asked all parties to anticipate responsively.

"It must be responsive to disruptions that make the world change rapidly. It must be responsive to challenges and opportunities that arise quickly which we often do not expect, and must be responsive to the development of science and technology," he concluded.