Nadiem to Google and Startups: Don’t Be Worry to Ask Something to the Government

The Minister of Education and Culture, Nadiem Makarim, asked Google, unicorns, and tech startups to change the paradigm towards the Indonesian government. In his remarks at the Google for Indonesia event, Nadiem conveyed that they shouldn’t be reluctant to ask something to the government.

“Please, just ask, this is what we need. Please change the paradigm.  There’s no need to be reluctant, don’t be ashamed of the government to ask for what is really needed,” Nadiem said during the Google4ID 2019 event that was held in Ciputra Artpreneur Theater, South Jakarta.

Nadiem gives an example in the ministry he leads. He will change the paradigm that the government is not only limited to regulators but is also included in the ecosystem. Both in the world of education and the world of technology, according to Nadiem, it makes no difference.

“The most effective organization is an organization that can innovate autonomously. It can by itself create a work of renewal to perform complex tasks,” Nadiem explained. If people think that technology is complex, Nadiem advised them to imagine the education of a student from PAUD to 21 years.

There are no assignments. There is no problem definition. “There is no more complicated engineering than human engineering,” he added. Because of its high complexity, Nadiem continued, the level of innovation correlation is very exponential. Thus, the more complex a task, the more important innovation is in an organization.

Google Collaborate with Indonesian Unicorns to Develop Bangkit

Nadiem believed that the potential of the organization to collaborate and innovate was the most important thing to going forward. “We do not know what will happen in the future, what is important is the ability of our nation’s adaptation.

In this case, they should be able to deal with strong character, with high courage, high curiosity, and honesty. In the fourth Google for Indonesia event, Google launched various developer training programs together with local unicorns. Google officially launched Bangkit, a selective training, and education program for developers.

The program will be held for six months. Google designed Bangkit with Gojek, Tokopedia, and Traveloka to train 300 highly qualified developers with machine learning expertise until 2020. The main purpose of this program is to create technical personnel with qualified skills in the field of machine learning.

For the initial stage, Google will open up opportunities for 200-300 participants from the young generation aged at least 18 years for free. The registration has been opened from November 20 to December 31, 2019. The online learning process will begin on January 20, 2020.

Bangkit Aimed to Develop a selection of features and functions

Participants will undergo an intensive training period for six months. On weekends, they will also take part in offline workshops spread across four cities including Denpasar, Yogyakarta, Jakarta, and Bandung. Then, the first period of the Bangkit Training program will end on June 14, 2020.

Through partnerships with several strategic partners in Indonesia, Google announced its initiative to launch a structured education program. The program aims to produce high-caliber technical personnel for startups and world-class technology companies in Indonesia. The program aims to measurably advance the technological ecosystem in Indonesia.

It is supposed to support Indonesia’s vision to become the largest digital economic powerhouse in Southeast Asia. All educational content will be conveyed with input, guidance, and support from partners. The pilot program will focus primarily on the compiled Machine Learning curriculum based on Google’s Machine Learning Crash Course (MLCC).

Aside from the machine learning module (and its predecessor module, Python & Math for ML), there will also be a development of non-technical skills centered on the methodology of design thinking. Professional development (leadership, interview skills, resume writing, collaboration principles, would focus on these points as well.