YOGYAKARTA – The activities of young people through new media in today’s digital era have a great opportunity to bring solutions to existing civic issues. Meanwhile, the government, so far, has been committed to accelerating digital transformation policies through programs that expand access and improve digital infrastructure.
This was revealed in a public lecture entitled “New Media: Opportunities and Challenges” organized by the Communication Sciences Program, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran” Yogyakarta (UPNVY), on Saturday (14/11/2020). The guest speakers in this activity were a lecturer at the School of Culture and Communication University of Melbourne, Dr. Annisa R Beta, and the Director General of Communication and Public Information, Prof. Widodo Muktiyo.
In her presentation before the participants, Annisa mentioned that in many studies, she ideologically positioned new media as a solution to the current issues society faces. For example, during the colonial era, the printing technology that gave rise to newspapers was able to arouse critical awareness from Indonesian society, enabling them to voice anti-colonialism and strive for Indonesian independence.
Furthermore, new media also bring about what is known as digital citizenship. “Globalization blurs the definition of citizenship, people are more dependent on the media. For example, Indonesians who live abroad know what happened in Indonesia through the media. The sense of citizenship is mediated by the media,” said this youth, new media, and women researcher.
Annisa added that in the current era, digital citizenship is not merely being a good citizen on the internet, but what is said on social media is a form of political subjectivity. “Many movements by young people take place through social media. They discuss, share their thoughts, and organize through social media,” he explained.
This condition becomes a challenge to utilize new media not only for normative and commercial purposes but also to encourage the community to take both small and large roles in overcoming national issues. A concrete example is the emergence of social movements initiated by young people that started with social media concerns criticism of government policies, as seen in Egypt, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. Those social and solidarity movements then became global movements.
In his presentation, Prof. Widodo Muktiyo stated that the government, through the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, is committed to carrying out digital transformation. “In accordance with the direction of the President (Joko Widodo), efforts are being made to expand and improve the infrastructure for providing internet in 12,500 villages or urban neighborhoods that currently lack internet access out of a total of approximately 83,000 villages or urban neighborhoods,” he explained.
Currently, he continued, the acceleration of digital transformation is preparing a roadmap, accelerating the integration of national data centers, and preparing regulations and human resources. “Indonesia cannot be compared to other countries in Europe or Asia. We have many islands with different characteristics,” said Widodo.
Regarding the preparation of human resources, in 2020, the government initiated a digital field development program through a digital leadership academy, digital talent scholarships, and a national digital literacy movement. “It is estimated that the need is up to 9 million digital talents to support digital transformation for the next 15 years,” he said. Furthermore, added Widodo, the digital era also opens up opportunities for developing the creative industry and economy in various fields. This creative economy sector is an opportunity for Indonesia to win global competition. “In relation to all of this, a draft bill on public data protection is currently being prepared,” he said.
Separately, the Rector of UPN “Veteran” Yogyakarta, Dr. M Irhas Effendi, in his speech explained that digitization has caused a shift from conventional to new media. “The transition from analog to digital brings both opportunities and challenges. It requires us to prepare ourselves with sensitivity,” he said.
Through this public lecture, the Rector continued, hopefully, they will be able to introduce new media studies to new students of the Department of Communication Sciences at UPN “Veteran” Yogyakarta and the community. Thus, it is expected that any gaps due to these changes can be bridged so that they can benefit the nation and state based on the values of defending the country.
Kegiatan kuliah umun yang digelar melalui aplikasi Zoom Meeting dan live Youtube chanel UPNTV ini diikuti 205 peserta. Kegiatan berlangsung interaktif melalui tanya jawab antara peserta dan narasumber.
The public lecture, organized via Zoom Meeting and live on UPNTV Youtube channel, was attended by 205 participants. The activity occurred interactively through question and answer between participants and keynote speakers.