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Indonesia joins search for digital talents in Asia-Pacific
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ndonesia will join policymakers and experts at a virtual summit to seek visions and recommendations for cultivating the digital talent ecosystem in the Asia Pacific region.
“The Asia Pacific Innovation Day — Digital Talent Summit 2021” will take place on Nov. 3 cohosted by the ASEAN Foundation and Huawei.
Indonesia’s Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko will share solutions and best practices in building a sustainable ecosystem that will help foster digital talents with his peers in the Asia Pacific.
The region, including the Indonesian vibrant digital scene, has witnessed an acceleration of digital economy following the Covid-19 pandemic of the past two years. Rapid digital transformation has resulted in companies and organizations seeking more skilled knowledge workers to meet the challenges of growing digitalized economy.
Yet, it’s evident that there remains a huge gap in digital talents across the Asia Pacific region.
A Korn Ferry research finds that Asia Pacific is facing an imminent labor shortage of 47 million people by 2030 and an annual opportunity cost of US$4.238 trillion. According to PwC’s 20th CEO Survey, more than 50 percent of Asia Pacific chief executive officers say it’s difficult to hire digital talent with the right skills.
To solve the digital talent gap and seize the leapfrog opportunity in the digital era, governments across the region have been actively strengthening their respective human resources development policies and related supports.
At the summit, policymakers from countries across the region, such as Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines and Sri Lanka will share their practice, policy suggestions at a panel on “Cultivating Innovative Talent for Digital Future”.
Among other prominent speakers are Cambodia’s Posts and Communications Minister Chea Vandeth; Sri Lanka’s Youth and Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa; Malaysia’s Mohamad Mentek, chair of ASEAN Digital Senior Official Meeting; Sirirurg Songsivilai, Thailand’s permanent secretary for Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation; Philippines Ambassador to China Jose Santiago Romana.
The second panel will be on “Digital Talent as Key to Sustainable Recovery and Development” with speakers including Gokhan Ogut, chief executive officer of Malaysia’s leading communications service provider Maxis; Asia-Pacific UNESCO science representative Mohamed Djelid; ITU Southeast Asia area representative Syed Ismail Shah; Vu Minh Khuong from Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore; and International Telecommunication Union’s Asia Pacific senior advisor Puji Pujiono.
“The creation of a sustainable talent development ecosystem in Asia Pacific requires forward-thinking policymaking and strong public-private partnership. A conducive learning ecosystem will help to groom a generation of digital talents that will someday lead the region’s digital future,” said Yang Mee Eng, executive director of ASEAN Foundation.
As the coorganizer of the Summit, Huawei announced in July the “Seeds for the Future Program 2.0”, in which the tech company plans to invest $150 million in digital talent development over the next five years. The program is expected to benefit more than 3 million additional people globally.
In 2008, Huawei began to roll out talent development programs, which have benefited more than 1.54 million people from over 150 countries through scholarships, technology competitions and digital skills training. For example, initiated in 2008 in Thailand, the Seeds for the Future Program was designed to inspire local talents and encourage seeds for the society to tackle digital challenges.
“The world ahead will be one dominated by devices: connecting, sensing, and reacting to everything around us. We hope our education programs not only reaffirms our commitment to social responsibility, but also prepares the next generation of experts to design and navigate this digital landscape. Our future depends on it,” Huawei Asia Pacific vice president Jay Chen said.
The summit can be viewed live at https://www.huawei.com/en/events/asia-pacific-innovation-day-2021 and ASEAN Foundation’s official Facebook page on Nov. 3 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (Jakarta time).
