Industry 4.0 is increasingly changing the socio-economic order. Through the dense flow of information, opportunities in mapping trade patterns are becoming more and more diverse along with the development of digital technology. The real phenomenon that is felt today, especially in Indonesia, is that traders can have a shop without having to have a building, and the convenience that consumers feel because they can choose a variety of products according to their choice without having to move from their place. . There are also economic opportunities from digital commerce to penetrate local and foreign markets.
Figure 1. e-Conomy SEA 2023 Report | Source: Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company (2023),
Citing a report from Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company (2023), it states that amid macro obstacles, Indonesia’s economy is expected to recover and reach ~$110 billion by 2025, especially in the e-commerce sector. Of course, as the country with the largest economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia increasingly has the opportunity to expand the impact of digital technology progress to achieve economic benefits.
Based on an article titled Digitization for Economic Growth and Job Creation, Darwiche et al (2013) stated that policy makers can take advantage of the various impacts of digitization through three main steps, (1). Create a digitization plan for target sectors that want to maximize the impact of digitization; (2). Encourage the development of capabilities and support needed to achieve the digitization plan; and (3). Policymakers must work with industry, consumers, and government agencies to build an inclusive information and communication technology ecosystem.
Digital Transformation Strategies to Support Inclusive Economic Growth
According to the basic concept above, and reflecting the pattern of digital economy and electronic commerce in Indonesia, it can be explained as follows:
Potential sector digitization plans.
The importance of the conceptual foundation in terms of maximizing the potential sector in the digital economy was stated by the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs through the White Paper National Strategy for the Development of Indonesia’s Digital Economy 2030 through 6 (six) main pillars, including (1). Infrastructure; (2). Human Resources; (3). Business Climate and Cyber Security; (4). Research, Innovation and Business Development; (5). Funding and Investment; and (6). Policies and Regulations.
This framework can serve as a guideline for the government and the business world to take advantage of the opportunities of Indonesia’s digital economy, which has been recorded to continue to grow and become the highest in Southeast Asia. Referring to the e-Conomy SEA 2023 report (Figure 1), the growth of the e-commerce sector still dominates, accompanied by growth in the transportation and food sectors, online travel, and online media, so strengthening the foundation and strategy is very important. .
Support Digital Support Development and Capabilities.
Like two sides of a coin, the development of digital infrastructure must be accompanied by the development of digital adaptive human resources (HR) because if it is not done, inequality will occur. These arguments are consistent with the efforts that have been made in Indonesia, some of which are the launch of the Republic of Indonesia Satellite-1 (SATRIA-1), the backbone network (Palapa Ring), and also various developments. transmission towers known as Transceiver Bases. Station (BTS). These various efforts are expected to support the digital economy growth ecosystem in Indonesia.
In addition, through the target of the G20 agenda in 2022 in Bali, especially in the Digital Transformation sector, Indonesia has formed a Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG), which discusses 3 (three) digital transformation topics, including connectivity and recovery after COVID-19; digital skills and digital literacy; also, cross-border data flows. There are also programs related to improving the competence of human resources, such as digital communication and information and other similar programs implemented in the government sector.
Collaboration between Government, Industry, and Consumer sectors
This pattern is very important because the digital transformation is very dynamic and the government will not be able to create an actionable policy if it does not understand the behavior and preferences of consumers, and if it does not take into account the development of the industry. Dynamic Market Changes but Policies are Slow, policies play an important role in improving the ecosystem that supports and expands access to new opportunities, unfortunately, policies and institutions are slow to adapt to new challenges (Qureshi & Woo, 2022). This is social commerce (s-commerce), which was born through disruption in the digital transformation as a concrete form of the government’s need to understand consumer trends and industrial movements.
Consumer trends in accessing and using social media are increasingly changing their behavior, where consumers can now play a role more than just passive consumers because they can also play an active role in providing reviews, experiences, and insights both on a regular basis. and the content of life. This phenomenon is captured by the industry by developing the concept of a platform that can facilitate the transaction process, which is generally in the form of e-commerce, so that it can directly refer to the product viewed by the content creator through social media, making it easier for consumers to get the product.
This condition makes s-commerce quite popular in society. However, the government has established strict restrictions on s-commerce regulations to maintain trade patterns to support a competitive digital economy, through the Regulation of the Minister of Trade Number 31 of 2023. welcoming the digital economy. , so that the issued verdict does not cause controversy in the community.
Conclusion
The era of the networked society presents various disruptions in the conventional order of commerce. Digital transformation is increasing the common boundaries in trade, providing promising economic opportunities through electronic commerce. Indonesia welcomed this opportunity, and tried to take advantage of the opportunity through various strategic programs, and that is why it has now turned into a country with the largest digital economy in Southeast Asia. However, the most important thing to maintain and expand the power of Indonesia’s digital economy is careful planning, infrastructure development accompanied by digital adaptive human resource development, and collaborative cooperation between government, industry, and consumers (community) to maximize economic opportunities from trade electronics.