The Ministry of Communication and Information Holds a Startup Program

The Ministry of Communication and Information and TechStars’ investment and innovation platform will hold a program to build startups in six sectors to help deal with the corona pandemic. The six sectors include health, vulnerable populations, communities, business, education, and entertainment.

Johnny G. Plate assessed that various startups in the region have the potential to carry out social initiatives with local governments, ministries, and non-governmental organizations in handling the corona pandemic.

This includes providing masks and personal protective equipment, on-the-job training, and helping to facilitate people’s access to primary needs at this time.

“I believe, not only they, but you will also become the drivers of innovations for Indonesia in this pandemic,” Johnny said in a press release on Thursday (23/4).

The program called Global Online Startup Weekend will be held on April 24-26 with the activator of the digital startup ecosystem in Indonesia, KUMPUL.

The Ministry of Communication and Information Collaborate with the Coworking Network

Communication and Information Technology also collaborates with coworking network partners in various regions namely Impala Network from Semarang, Ngalup.co from Malang, MeetUp Coworking from Pekanbaru, CreateIt from Bandung, SatuTampa from Manado, and StartupBorneo from Banjarmasin.

KUMPUL Co-founder & CEO Faye Alund said, his institution had moved the coworking network and communities in 28 cities to join the program. To date, more than 60 countries including Indonesia have joined the program.

Faye sees the role of coworking actors in the area as very important as a community activator and startup ecosystem. “In the last week before registration was closed, there were already more than 1,000 registrants from all over Indonesia,” Faye said.

He continued, in 54 hours all participants will build a startup in the six sector focus that has been set. Not only that, according to Faye, the process of building this startup will also be guided by more than 30 speakers and mentors from various fields.

Some of the speakers included CEO & Founder Pinhome Dayu Dara, Halodoc Chief In-Hospital Business Officer Doddy Lukito, KawalCovid19.id Ainun Najib, QM Financial Co-founder & CEO Ligwina Hananto, Wahyoo CEO and Founder Peter Shearer, and Special Staff Minister Danang Rizki Ginanjar Research, Technology, and National Innovation Research Agency.

On the last day of the program, live pitching will be held via the Youtube platform. One of the judges who will rate the 10 best startups is Bukalapak’s Co-founder and ex-CEO Achmad Zaky.

Facebook Indonesia Vertical Lead Aldo Rambie, Director General of Informatics Application at the Ministry of Communication and Information Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, as well as Partners from Venturra Discovery Raditya Pramana as panelists of the jury.

Food Donations for Medical Personnel were Done in This Event

The program which is also supported by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Telkomsel, and DBS Bank through the Digibank Digital Banking platform will find three winners to represent Indonesia in the Top 20 Global Winner Startup Weekend competition.

The Digitaraya accelerator startup and several startups also donated food to 1,700 medical workers and 5,000 poor people in DKI Jakarta who were affected by the corona pandemic during Ramadan.

Fundraising was raised through AIDS.com, a collaborative social movement site between Digitaraya, KitaBisa.com, Umma, and the Northstar Bakti Persada Foundation, specifically for this humanitarian activity.

The funds raised were used to provide food and the manufacturing process was carried out by more than 100 Wahyoo, BreadLife, Isuka, Dailybox, and Ku Mangkok partner associates. Umma which is a community-based Muslim platform helps distribute food to mosques in the Jakarta area.

“We want to play an active role in helping people who need help most during this pandemic,” Digitaraya Managing Director Nicole Yap said in a press release on Thursday (23/4). Moreover, he continued, the agency received news that it was quite difficult for medical personnel to meet their own food needs.