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APPLICATIONS and games as part of the sub-sector in the creative economy have a major role in reviving the economy and digital sovereignty so that networks need to be encouraged and strengthened among creative actors in various regions of the country.
According to the Deputy for Destination and Infrastructure Development at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Hari Santosa Sungkari said applications and games as part of the creative economy sub-sector must be able to be adapted and utilized optimally on various occasions. which exists.
“The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy encourages collaboration from all stakeholders. The government cannot do it alone, it must work together with all parties to create products that can host both their own country and the international arena. The goal is that we have strong digital sovereignty,” said Hari Sungkari.
“Digital Conference & Exhibition, Indonesia Digital 2020″ is an activity in an effort to strengthen the network of creative economy players, especially the application and game sectors in four cities, namely Balikpapan, Depok, Malang, and Yogyakarta,” he said.
Hari explained that Indonesia has great power to achieve digital sovereignty through applications and games. Indonesia’s digital economy from 2015 to 2018 experienced a 49% growth increase from US$18 billion to US$27 billion. This figure makes Indonesia the fastest-growing digital economy in ASEAN. This can also be seen from the existence of 5 unicorns in Indonesia such as Tokopedia, Traveloka, Bukalapak, Ovo, and Gopay, as well as 1 Gojek decacorn.
Meanwhile for the game sector, the market size of games in Indonesia in 2020 reached US$1,004 million and US$672 million of which came from mobile games, which grew 70.1% year on year (YoY).
“So that’s what makes this sub-sector very sexy for us to foster. I dream that from strengthening this network there will be games and apps products that can host in our own country. Maybe these products are made from several studios which are a combination of Depok and Balikpapan, or Balikpapan and Malang, and so on. It becomes common property so that it can be the host in your own country and can penetrate the international market on the condition that the products we carry must have uniqueness,” he noted.
He added that the uniqueness could be driven by the diversity of cultures that Indonesia has. Raise local wisdom and wrap it up with what we can make, so we don’t make another mobile Legend and another PUBG, but one game from Indonesia.
Meanwhile, the Deputy for Digital Economy and Creative Products of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Muhammad Neil El Himam, said that in the development of the digital ecosystem there are many factors that must be strengthened. One of them is digital talent itself.
Therefore he appreciates local governments who have awareness in developing digital talent. Like the city of Malang, which strengthens itself to become a creative city in the field of applications and games because it realizes the potential of around 5,000 graduates of information technology universities in Malang and its surroundings.
“Then what needs to be realized is related to the wealth we have besides natural wealth, namely cultural wealth. Language or culture can become wealth that can be taken into added value for the creative economy itself,” he said.
In developing the digital ecosystem in the future, it also needs to be strengthened by the readiness of infrastructure and technology that is supported by policies and regulations. It is hoped that in the future, both the application and the game data will be at least stored in data centers in Indonesia.
“Of course, the government cannot work alone. We certainly need input from stakeholders in the field of applications and games to lower regulations on policies which certainly provide a level playing field for creative economy actors,” Neil affirmed.
In addition, there is also a Government Incentive Assistance (BIP) program that has been held annually since 2017, which aims to provide additional working capital and/or fixed asset investment to business actors involved in 6 (six) creative economy sub-sectors (digital applications and game development, fashion, crafts, culinary, and film) and the tourism sector.
“This BIP fund is expected to be a real stimulus for creative economy and tourism actors,” concluded Neil. [traveltext.id]
