Jakarta – In order to increase access to marketing, efficiency and effectiveness of business operations, competitiveness and innovation and income of MSME players, the government through the Ministry of Communication and Information launched the Digital Technology 4.0 Adoption and Business Incubation Program for MSMEs on Monday, May 22, 2023 in collaboration with various drivers of the Indonesian technology industry, one of which is SIRCLO. The launch was conducted in hybrid mode and attended by representatives from local governments, ministries/agencies, digital platforms, MSME facilitators, and MSME players.
As a leading omnichannel commerce solution provider, SIRCLO through the SIRCLO Store service will act as a catalyst for the absorption of 4.0 technology adoption that will support businesses to level up holistically.
Through the strong synergy built in this program, it is expected to optimize the potential and productivity of MSMEs Producers in the Processing Sector which is expected to increase domestic production, as well as increase the value of export substitution and support the National Movement of Proudly Made in Indonesia (Gernas BBI).
Welcoming this strategic partnership optimistically, Ferry Tenka, CEO Entrepreneur Solutions, SIRCLO said, “The enormous potential of MSMEs must of course be supported by various industry drivers including technology companies such as SIRCLO, in order to make this industrial ecosystem rise after the pandemic and continue to grow rapidly.
Not only that, in the future, a full commitment is still needed to support the growth of home-made products for the sake of Indonesia’s economic recovery. With this program, we hope that MSME players can get direct assistance and improve business performance by utilizing the convenience of digital services offered by SIRCLO.”
The consistent growth of the digital economy in Indonesia is certainly inseparable from the role and contribution of a very large number of MSME players and the foundation of national GDP rests on MSMEs which contribute more than 97% of employment. The number of MSMEs reaching 64.2 million requires assistance for the utilization of digital technology.
In 2021, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology has facilitated assistance to 26 thousand MSMEs to actively sell digitally and in 2022, assistance has been provided to 30 thousand MSMEs Producers of Processing Sectors such as Food and Beverages; Wood and Wicker Crafts; Textiles and Apparel; Furniture, Leather Crafts and Handicrafts to scale up the adoption of digital technology 4.0.
Meanwhile, in 2023, the Digital Technology Adoption Program 4.0 or known as the “UMKM Level Up” program will have two stages of activities, namely Digital Mentoring and Business Incubation. First, the Digital Mentoring activity is aimed at 20,000 MSME Producers in the Processing Sector in 15 Priority Areas by involving 110 mentoring facilitators for 6 months. These areas include North Sumatra, Bangka Belitung, Banten, DKI Jakarta, East Java, DI Yogyakarta & Central Java, North Maluku, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, Southeast Sulawesi, West Kalimantan, Papua and West Papua.
Second, the Business Incubation activity is a government effort to improve the business capabilities of MSME players, especially for 100 MSME players who already have digital capabilities in marketing their products. This activity will involve 10 trainers and several competent mentors to provide business consultations to MSME players, thus increasing the capacity of MSMEs to manage businesses in order to increase sales transactions.
Registration for this program has been open since May 2, 2023 and can be done at the registration link that we have prepared, namely https://umkmlevelup.id/pendaftaran. The stages of MSME registration are filling in email and MSME profile, filling in the digital technology adoption level assessment questionnaire and expressing willingness to take part in mentoring activities for 6 (six) months.
MSMEs that become mentoring participants will get benefits in the form of intensive mentoring from facilitators, data packages for 6 months, free mentoring from various digital platforms for 6 (six) months, marketplace ads promotion for the best 8,000 MSMEs, access to digital technology and business materials, and e-certificates for participants who follow until the end of the program. Prior to mentoring, an assessment of the level of need for digital technology adoption among MSMEs will first be carried out, which is divided into 4 (four) levels, namely Beginner, Observer, Adopter, and Leader.
The first level, Beginner, introduces MSMEs to how to use social media properly. Second, Observer introduces the online marketplace channel. The third, Adapter, uses fintech platforms, aggregators and Point of Sales (PoS) systems. The Leader level consists of businesses that have been managed relatively modernly and have a higher level of technology adoption and knowledge, using Big Data 3D modeling, QR Code, Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality.
The Ministry of Communication and Information collaborates with several digital platform providers in Indonesia which include; social commerce applications, e-commerce, financial technology (fintech), Point of Sales System (PoS), and digital technology 4.0 including Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Analytics, and others. Therefore, a ceremonial signing of the Cooperation Agreement between Kominfo and several digital platforms was held.
In addition, there are changes to the program in 2023 with business incubation activities for 100 Top MSMEs assisted by the Ministry of Communication and Information which intensively provides business assistance covering the fields of; business model canvas (systematic business model design), product development, digital marketing strategies, branding and product design, copywriting (preparation of advertising scripts for commercial purposes), finance and non-finance, and others.
The launch of this program is expected to synergize and get support from other ministries or institutions and local governments, as well as take place in a sustainable and sustainable manner. Therefore, this opportunity is a momentum for joint synergy in order to realize “Connected Indonesia, more digital, more advanced”.
