The era of digital transformation opens up opportunities for the Indonesian press industry ecosystem to develop. To make the ecosystem healthier, the Minister of Communications and Informatics Johnny G. Plate encourages industrial cooperation and collaboration amidst technological disruptions that occur both on the market side, behaviour change, and content distribution.
The digital era can be used as a stepping stone so that the press and institutions of the sector can further develop. In this increasingly collaborative era, cooperation between the press industry and other stakeholders, including of course the government in creating agile and adaptive media management, is indispensable. A good media industry orientation will be reflected in quality journalism based on data, adequate analysis, and theoretical approaches
– Johnny G. Plate, Minister of Communications and Informatics
Amid the push for digital transformation globally due to the pandemic, a digital transformation is also important for the press industry so that it can find new media business models. The use of data, which has increased lately, can allow companies to identify and target audiences more accurately. In addition, the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) would make it easier for companies to build personalised products and services for different audiences according to their needs
Currently, Indonesia is also rolling out and deploying 5G to respond to the emergence of various technologies, as well as new digital media such as metaverse, cloud computing, which will further encourage shifts in production and consumption in the field of communication, journalism and media. A study shows that Big Data is being used to determine the most appropriate timing to publish an article or which platform is most suitable to be used for distributing an article.
In addition to providing support, the Minister encouraged the Press Council and the Media Sustainability Task Force to prepare the substance of the proposed draft regulation to adjust benchmarks from other countries as a reference. The Minister cited references such as the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code in Australia, The Law on the Creation of Neighboring Rights for the Benefit of Press Agencies and Publishers in France, as well as in the European Union which implemented the Digital Services Act and Digital Market Act.
For example in the business competition section, when the business competition will shift from digital to the e-commerce sector, the law related to the legal umbrella in that sector will go to the Ministry of Trade and revise the law. The Minister also suggested that when discussing the substance of intellectual property rights, the authorised government agency would be the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. It can be in the form of a law that regulates it because it contains many very technical questions, both digitally and commercially and because this is a publisher, it means that there is sharing of benefits. This is what must be arranged properly
As reported by OpenGov Asia, in the measurement of the Indonesia Digital Literacy Index 2021, Digital Culture has the highest score. The pillar of Digital Culture was recorded with a score of 3.90 on a scale of 5 or good. Furthermore, the pillars of Digital Ethics (digital ethics) with a score of 3.53 and Digital Skills with a score of 3.44. Meanwhile, the Digital Safety pillar got the lowest score (3.10) or slightly above average. The measurement of this digital literacy index is not only to find out the status of digital literacy in Indonesia but also to ensure that efforts to increase people’s digital literacy are more targeted.
The four pillars that form the Digital Literacy Index are measured annually by the Ministry of Communication and Informatics. This year the Indonesian Digital Literacy Index is at a score of 3.49 or at a moderate and close to a good stage. The use of the four pillars in this measurement refers to the 2020-2024 Indonesia Digital Literacy Roadmap compiled by the Ministry of Communication and Information, based on previous national research and refers to similar measurements held by UNESCO.