A team of lecturers from the SBM ITB collaborated with the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Tanjungpura (FEB UNTAN), to increase the role of the digital ecosystem to accelerate the economic recovery of West Kalimantan Province, especially in the tourism sector. As stated by the team leader, Taufik Faturohman, this program is a community service program funded by the Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM) ITB. Taufik added that the program, which started in March 2022 and will end in October 2022, consists of mapping tourism potential, conducting seminars, and training and mentoring for village-owned enterprises (BUMDes) managers in Kubu Raya Regency.
This committee presented experts from SBM ITB and FEB UNTAN, namely Taufik Faturohman, Raden Aswin Rahadi, and Juanda Astarani, with Khristina Yunita as the moderator. This seminar was attended by academics, students, and tourism business players (BUMDes managers).
As the first speaker, Juanda conveyed the importance of digital accounting for MSMEs. He believed that digital accounting could improve the efficiency and accuracy of MSMEs’ financial statements. “This digital accounting application is widely available and can easily be downloaded by MSME actors on their smartphones,” he said.
In the second session, Taufik talked about the importance of the digitalization process to accelerate the growth of the tourism sector, followed up by Aswin, who delivered Digital Marketing Strategies for MSMEs in the New Normal era. The presentations from the two SBM ITB lecturers show the excellent opportunity for using digital media to attract more tourists to visit tourist attractions, especially in the city of Pontianak and the district of Kubu Raya.
In addition to presenting experts from SBM ITB and FEB UNTAN, the Regent of Kubu Raya and Alfred Boediman, an Adjunct Professor at the University of Chicago and Co-Founder of Jawara Ventures, also attended the seminar. The Regent of Kubu Raya, Muda Mahendrawan, said that the Kubu Raya government always encourages the use of digital technology by MSMEs in Kubu Raya, both in the bureaucracy and business actors. The last speaker, Alfred, said that digitization is not always related to advanced technology. He emphasized using appropriate technology that can be easily accessed by all parties to increase regional economic growth.
The team also conducted general seminars and carried out training to increase the capacity of BUMDes managers to develop tourist attractions in their respective regions. The ITB – UNTAN Community Service Team taught packaging tour packages and digital promotional media. The training was provided by Khristina Yunita, Kurnia Fajar Afgani, and Gun Gun Indrayana as the team members who were also practitioners. With this training, BUMDes managers are expected to be able to create an e-catalogue that can attract tourists to visit their area and enjoy existing tourist attractions. “This joint program is excellent and valuable to accelerate economic recovery in our area. We hope that this program will sustain in the coming years. ” Hoped Khristina, the head of the Accounting Study Program FEB UNTAN.