Digitization of villages must be followed by digital literacy: Minister

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The digitization of villages must be followed by an improvement of digital literacysaid Abdul Halim Iskandar, Minister of Villages, Development of Underprivileged Regions and Transmigration.

“The development of digitally-based villages is important given the current wide penetration of the Internet,” he noted in a written statement released here on Saturday.

“Despite this, digitization still needs to be addressed with adequate digital literacy, as the use of internet-based gadgets has negative impacts,” he said.

The development of the digitization of villages is important to improve services to populations, he added.

Various village administration services would be easier to achieve through digitization, he said during the inauguration on Saturday of a digital village in the village of Air Seruk, Belitung, Bangka Belitung.

“Digital technology would not only help village governments to access information about citizens, but would also make it easier for villagers to access village (related) information such as raising village funds and using the village budget. “, explained the minister.

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In addition, the digitization of villages could also be used to accelerate the movement of the rural economy, he said.

Currently, Indonesian villages have many quality products, both in terms of goods and services, he said. With digitization, promoting Air Seruk Village products would be easier, he added.

“Right now, when you open the market, there are many BUMDes (village businesses) online stores that promote agricultural, craft and tourism service products. It is certainly a very exciting development,” he said. he said.

However, there are negative impacts of digitization of the village it should be managed, he said.

“Digital literacy should be a duty for the villagers so that they are not affected by the negative impacts of digitization, such as the spread of hoaxes or illegal online loans,” said the minister.

According to Belitung District Chief Sahani Saleh, Air Seruk Village is a pilot village development project in Belitung.

Read: Indonesia ranks in the middle of digital literacy survey: Kominfo ministry

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