© UNDP

Concrete plans to improve digital skills and literacy, connect remote areas to the Internet and strengthen digital security were some of the key outcomes of Indonesia’s Presidency at the G20 meeting held in 2022.

Coordinated by the Ministry of Communication and Informatics and supported by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as a global knowledge partner, the G20 Digital Economy Working Group Ministerial Meeting in September endorsed a collection of the lessons learned from G20 members on what is called ‘people-centred digital connectivity.’

“With the enormous intellectual capital and convening power that ITU has, we were able to collect concrete and actionable lessons with the hope that it may inspire the other governments to move the concept of digital transformation beyond meeting rooms,” said Mira Tayyiba, Secretary General of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics.

A research paper by the ITU, called Stocktaking on the Extended Concept and Shared Understanding of Digital Connectivity, prepared on the government’s request, defined the overall framework of ‘people-centred digital connectivity’, while another research paper provided recommendations on how to improve digital skills and digital literacy among those not yet reached by the digital age. A third paper focused on measures G20 governments can take jointly to improve digital security as a key enabler for business continuity.

An ITU initiative, called Smart Village and Smart Islands, was endorsed by all G20 members as a concrete project. It seeks to work across government departments to help empower rural and coastal communities by connecting them to the Internet and thus facilitate the delivery of a range of public services. As a follow-up, ITU and the Ministry of Communication and Informatics are conducting a scoping exercise for a pilot initiative to support the digital transformation of rural and remote communities in Indonesia.