State Secretary, Prof. Dr. Pratikno, said the change of technology brings changes in democracy and politics in Indonesia and the world. The statement was delivered by the State Secretary as a keynote speaker in the International Seminar on Social and Political Sciences (ISSOCP) on Thursday (23/11) at University Club UGM.
“New ways of doing a campaign, the emergence of current issues and hoaxes mark an important shift in democracy and politics. The theories we have studied have changed,” said Pratikno in the seminar entitled Trust Building in Digital Revolution.
Technology advancement, according to Pratikno, opens new media for political activities as well as turns old political facilities into irrelevant media. A political campaign, for example, will become more effective if it is conducted by utilizing big data analysis and agenda-setting can be done by making viral ideas via social media or online petition.
These changes, according to the Minister, make mediators including political parties unnecessary because the millennial generation has created their own ways to make their voices heard.
“In the politics, intermediation loses its role due to digital technology,” he added.
If we do not want to be deemed as an irrelevant media, the government has to take action like companies which try to maintain their business by changing in accordance with the demands of the times in order to take advantages from technological development.
Minister Pratikno further said currently the government is performing many efforts through educational institutions and community initiatives, as well as encouraging young startups to develop solutions to address social issues. In the midst of technological disruption, the Minister puts his hope on the younger generation to create ideas and take the initiatives through digital democracy in order to create digital democracy actors for the sake of the nation, not to destroy the nation by spreading false news.
“In order to address the issues, we have to become a creative disruption, destroying disruptions that can cause destruction,” He said.
He also encourages the youths to fight against the negative technology utilization by spreading decent things on the internet. He believes the youths who know technology better have the capacity to be the agent of change.
“The most important thing is doing good things and publishing decent information, thus the community will obtain the right information, not hoaxes,” he added.
This international seminar was held as a part of series of events of the 62nd anniversary of Faculty of Social and Political Sciences UGM. This seminar also presented other famous keynote speakers, including a lecturer from Hong Kong Baptist University, Prof. Dr. Cherian George, as well as Dr. Stephen Leigh Miller from Charles Darwin University who also becomes a guest professor at Faculty of Social and Political Sciences UGM.
“The seminar’s theme is relevant to the current national and global situation. I hope we are able to not only comprehend those phenomena but also find solutions to address the issues happening around us,” said Dean of Faculty of Social and Political Sciences UGM, Dr. Erwan Agus Purwanto.