The 2020 Asia Pacific Small Medium Business Digital Maturity Study by technology company Cisco and International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that digitally mature SMEs can enjoy up to 16 percent increase in revenue and a 14 percent increase in productivity, allowing for a greater contribution to the national economy.

“Digitizing SMEs is important, as it is the driving force of our economy. SMEs are also one of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic,” said Cisco Indonesia managing director Marina Kacaribu in a press briefing on Wednesday.

She went on to say that most of Indonesia’s SMEs were still in the early stage of digital transformation, marked by the absence of a digitalization roadmap and lack of digital talent.

The study showed that 31 percent of SMEs in the Asia-Pacific region are still in the first stage of the digitalization process, called the digital indifferent stage. Meanwhile, 53 percent are in the observer stage, 13 percent in the digital challenger stage, and only 3 percent are in the digital native stage.

Indonesia’s economy relies heavily on small businesses, which account for more than 60 percent of the GDP and employ a majority of the labor force.

Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Teten Masduki previously stated that the government aimed to have 10 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to go digital by the end of the year to help them ease the financial burden of the pandemic.

Popular

State-sanctioned intolerance

Jakarta library reopens to packed rooms, long queues

Indonesia opts against visa fee hike to spur tourism