This week, Mastercard launched a flagship program to train Indonesians of all ages and professions in basic digital skills. The payments solution firm is partnering with local non-profit YCAB Foundation, a youth development organization that works on education and welfare for marginalized youth, and InfraDigital Nusantara, a provider of digital finance for educational institutions, to provide cybersecurity courses and STEM classes for girls aged eight to 14 years of age. By 2022, the program, called Mastercard Academy 2.0, aims to have trained 100,000 Indonesians.

Mastercard is the latest in a list of international technology companies to launch digital training initiatives in the archipelago. In 2018, Apple opened a Developer Academy in Jakarta to train the next generation of app developers on its mobile operating system. Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba is offering a Netpreneur Training program for business leaders interested in harnessing digital technology, and its co-founder Jack Ma has said that he wants to establish an institute to train Indonesia's ecommerce entrepreneurs. Google offers a course to help developers attain the Associate Android Developer Certification, available in both Bahasa Indonesia and English.

The support of such major players will be critical for the future of Indonesia’s technology industry. Korn Ferry’s 2018 Global Talent Crunch study found that by 2030, Indonesia’s technology, media, and telecommunications sectors will face a combined shortfall of as many as 1.2 million workers. 

“The digital economic potential of Indonesia is huge, but it cannot be realized without the availability of knowledgeable and skilled human resources,” said Johnny G. Plate, Indonesia’s minister of communication and information technology (Kominfo).

Plate added that Kominfo has been working to develop collaborations with various parties who can provide education, training, and other forms of support.

Mike Froman, Vice Chairman and President of Mastercard’s strategic growth division, said: “Accelerating human capital development is key to creating equitable, inclusive and sustainable economies...It takes everyone working together to ensure that the digital economy works for everyone, everywhere; to ensure that no one gets left behind.”