JAKARTA, Indonesia, Sept. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Indonesian Parliamentary Women's Caucus (KPP-RI) works together with global ICT provider Huawei, held a digital literacy workshop as part of digital literacy campaign to empower female legislators towards greater roles and contributions to society.
Titled Women in Tech: Women Leadership in Digital Era, the workshop's list of keynote speakers include Puan Maharani, Chairwoman of the Indonesian Parliament of the Republic of Indonesia, General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, National Police chief; Diah Pitaloka, Presiding Chairwoman of KPP-RI; and Catherine Chen, Corporate Senior Vice President and Director of the Board, Huawei. As many as 200 female legislators in DPR, Regional Leadership Council (DPD), and the Regional Representative Council (DPRD) participate in the workshop – both online and offline, held with the strictest health protocols.
Meanwhile, in her welcoming remarks, Puan Maharani, Parliament Chairwoman, expressed her support towards this workshop and its goal of increasing female legislators' digital literacy and helping strengthen their roles.
"The story that needs to be instilled in people's minds is how women can become creators in the digital world or become leaders in the digital technology industry, such as Catherine Chen (Huawei) and Trisia who are the speakers today. The rapid development of the digital industry during the pandemic has become fertile ground for the wider community including women to start a business and digital technology opens the door for our MSMEs to advance to class and thus we actively participate in using digital technology to help improve general welfare," said Puan.
Diah Pitaloka, Presiding Chairwoman of KPP-RI said that increasing digital literacy is necessary for female legislators. Moreover, with various activities and lifestyles increasingly relying on digital technologies, legislators are expected to understand the opportunities, challenges, and latest issues in the 4.0 era to be able to offer solutions for the people's aspirations.
"Understanding and mastery of digital technology among female legislators is expected to help increase the effectiveness of programs, socialization actions, and communication and interaction with the community, as well as enrich legislators' insight in addressing critical issues related to cybersecurity and cyberbullying that is rife in the community. This educational activity is strategic in strengthening roles, leadership and competencies. For that we involve industry experts such as Huawei and also the Ministry of Communications and Informatics. High appreciation for their support and commitment in supporting women legislators to develop their competencies," said Diah.
According to Diah, now is the best momentum for female legislators to commit to improving their own digital literacy in order to ramp up their leadership role in this intelligent and connected era. Puan Maharani's election as the first female speaker of the DPR in history, combined with the increasing number of female legislators are two factors that coincide with and, at the same time, should reinforce this commitment.
According to Corporate Senior Vice President and Director of the Board, Huawei, Catherine Chen, Indonesian women's leadership and striving towards equality and empowerment had begun since emancipation figure Kartini's era. She reaffirmed that Huawei would always honor its commitment in supporting female leadership well into the digital transformation era.
"We believe that more talented women and women leaders are needed to create an inclusive digital world that benefits all. Today's program is the first step towards much more extensive collaboration with the House, KPP-RI and many other advocates of women empowerment. This will not only recognize and inspire women leadership, but also drive the development of the digital economy," Chen said.
In Indonesia, by partnering with the government, academia, industry, and communities, Huawei actively holds programs aimed at increasing digital literacy for everyone, including women. These programs are also strongly tied with Huawei's commitment towards preparing 100 thousand digital talents within five years. Huawei has managed to develop 45 thousand digital talents in Indonesia in just under one year since the commitment was announced.