In an effort to improve the digital skills of micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) players, especially in eastern Indonesia, Facebook Indonesia will launch a digital campaign program called Laju Digital, next month.

With Laju Digital, Facebook will give digital training and workshops to people in 15 cities, including 10 cities in Eastern Indonesia, said Facebook Indonesia’s public policy head Ruben Hattari in Jakarta on Tuesday.

“This campaign will focus on providing training and workshops on how to develop their businesses by utilizing the Internet. The participants will learn how to make a Facebook page to promote their product,” he said when announcing Laju Digital.

The first city to host Laju Digital will be Gorontalo, followed by other cities such as Kupang, Manokwari and Mataram. “In each city, we plan to have two days of training and workshops,” he said, adding that the program was free of charge.

To run the program, Facebook is collaborating with local organizations, the Communications and Information Ministry, the Cooperatives and SMEs Ministry and the Education and Culture Ministry, he said.

Meanwhile, Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) economic department head Yose Rizal Damuri said the use of digital technology could speed up economic development in eastern Indonesia.

However, according to the results of an CSIS study of 2000 respondents and 1000 MSMEs in 10 cities in Eastern Indonesia, Internet use for businesses is considerably low. “More than 60 percent of respondents use the Internet only for social networking, while Internet use for more productive activity is still limited,” Yose said. The research shows that only about 30 percent of MSMEs use the Internet for their business. (bbn)

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