Optimizing digitalization as the key to improving regional rankings

East Ventures has again released the East Ventures – Digital Competitiveness Index (EV-DCI) 2024 report in collaboration with Katadata Insight Center (KIC).

EV-DCI is a report that maps digital competitiveness across 38 provinces and 157 regions/cities. In this report, several regions recorded significant rank increases.

At the provincial level, regions that recorded significant rank increases include: Gorontalo which rose 10 places from 30th to 20th, Southeast Sulawesi which rose 8 places from 29th to 21st, and Riau which rose seven places from 21st to 14th.

While at the city level, the regions that recorded a significant increase in rank include: Tanjung Pinang which rose 39 places from 64th to 25th, Deli Serdang which rose 39 places from 100th to 61st, and Baubau which rose 27 places from 87th to 60th. The increase is the result of the implementation of digitalization in various sectors such as economy, education, and public services.

In Gorontalo, the rank increase was mainly driven by the initiation of the Remaja Cakap Digital (Digital program held in 18 high schools and vocational schools; the holding of e-sports tournaments in collaboration with the local government and the private sector; and the Digital Entrepreneurship Academy (DEA) program which is a digital capacity building program for MSMEs.

Meanwhile, in Southeast Sulawesi, the ranking improvement was driven by digital infrastructure development for network expansion. Southeast Sulawesi is included in 17 cities/districts that will be connected to the Palapa Ring ‘middle package’ project, which is a fiber optic network development project from the central government. In addition, the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Government also launched the ‘E-commerce Komunitas Informasi Masyarakat’ (EcoKIM) application as a platform for local MSMEs.

As for Riau, the ranking improvement was driven by various local government breakthroughs such as the launch of seven MSME applications, the launch of the Pusat Informasi Ketenagakerjaan Riau (PIKIR) application, and the Transformasi Digital Tata Kelola Satu Data program.

The East Ventures – Digital Competitiveness Index 2024 report can be downloaded at east.vc/DCI.

The original article was published on Katadata.co.id, 19 June 2024.