- 11/03/2018
- Categories: Commentaries, Press Release
In the context of development, it cannot be denied that the active role and participation of the society is a component that is as important as the initiative or policy from the government. In this digital era today, the presence of technology is a stimulant to empower the society to conduct development in multiple sectors. Therefore, educating and informing the community to have a modest knowledge regarding the fourth industrial revolution era is fundamentally essential. In collaboration with Combine Resource Institution through Jagongan Media Rakyat (JMR) event and SiBerkreasi, Center for Digital Society (CfDS) UGM presents its ‘Digital Future Discussion’ (Difussion) event to discuss the role of technology in the development of the digital economy.
The phenomenon of technology in Economic Sector
We must acknowledge that Indonesia is one of the countries which is much affected by the incoming of the internet and digital technology. The massive amount of internet users in Indonesia is an ingredient that can be empowered to reach more prominent economic-social development in the future.
“The number of internet users in Indonesia has reached 143 million. It means that half of our population are already connected to the internet. Then, more than 100 million users have used social media.” Said Dewi Widianingrum, a representative from ICT Watch Indonesia.
Furthermore, Dewi also emphasizes the importance of developing a sufficient knowledge and effectiveness in utilizing the internet to produce an optimum result.
“The internet is a new tool that shapes human activities in multiple aspects; communication, shopping habit, or looking for information. If we know how to optimize the internet, we can use this as an alternative source of income.” Added Dewi.
In the next session, the researchers from CfDS explain several technological developments that support the growth of e-commerce today. Darasti Zahira (researcher CfDS) speaks about big data as a resource in the digital economy sector.
“Big data is a series of data that are collected in cloud computing server. This data is collected through our digital trace while from the social media, google searching service, etc. In e-commerce, this data is being used to identify the pattern and habit of users.”
Then, Gehan Ghofari (research associate CfDS) and Ridho Bima Pamungkas (research assistant CfDS) talk about the phenomenon of bitcoin, which is currently rising all around the world. Even though the value of bitcoin has risen since three years ago, this thing still becomes a debate between governments worldwide.
“Some states still perceive bitcoin negatively, and therefore they ban it. Nevertheless, some states react positively to bitcoin phenomenon. In Japan, the government can offer a legal measurement to those who are experiencing issues with bitcoin/cryptocurrency activity as long as the activity being conducted in the right corridor.” Said Gehan.
Regarding the future of bitcoin and other cryptocurrency in the digital economy era, both Gehan and Bima agree that its future is still unpredictable.
“There is no guarantee because cryptocurrency always moves and fluctuate.”
“the fluctuation does not always bring negative impact. The dynamic of bitcoin can also foster the diversion of capital to stimulate innovations.” Added Bima.
Awareness of the Threat of Security in Digital Era
Although the development of technology brings many benefits, the society needs to aware regarding its threat as well. In e-commerce sector, there is numerous criminal activity that can happen due to the lack of knowledge and awareness among the internet users.
“Be watchful if you find a big discount on social media. A lot of users being manipulated by such offers wherein rational thinking, that kind of offer is hardly reasonable at all.” Said Dewi.
Furthermore, Darasti adds her concern regarding the use of big data that is unfair because it provides many benefits to the big players who own access to capital and platform.
“Big data stemmed from our private data on the internet. While accessing the internet freely, there is something to pay in return, which is our data and credentials, or it can be considered as a data monetization where we surrender our data to the website developer to use the service. Furthermore, the existing algorithm also contains bias because it includes past trace. This is a form of exploitation by private interest over the public or minority group.”
Meanwhile, in cryptocurrency sector where the booming is currently happening, Gehan warns the society to be careful before do investment or transaction.
“A lot of cryptocurrency marketplace sites are not fully resistant to malware or virus threat. Therefore, we need to be aware of choosing the marketplace sites where we want to do the investment.” Said Gehan.
Although the event was running amid of heavy rain, the enthusiasm of the participants remains high. More than 40 people were in attendance at Difussion event. Lastly, the event was closed with a question and answer session between the speakers and the participants.
