Adoption of the Green Economy through Branchless Rural Credit Banks during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia

A green economy has an impact on improving welfare, but it takes continuous efforts to achieve it from various fields. Contribution in the context of banking on a small scale is one of the initiatives that can show participation in achieving a green economy. This study aims to explore people's behavior in financial transactions and analyze the practice of rural credit banks in encouraging the achievement of a green economy through the National Financial Inclusive Strategy (NFIS) program despite the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used quantitative approaches;observations were conducted at a certain time by collecting data taken directly as a complement to this study, as well as taking questionnaire data involving 363 samples and analyzing them using the structural equation model (SEM). The result is that green economic support is found in using paper for fewer savings transactions compared to branchless banking with conventional savings transactions. The high number of residents exposed to COVID-19 does not affect branchless banking. In addition, the use of branchless banking can show the penetration of financial literacy in the community. The results of the path analysis explain that perceived ease of use (7.468) and perceived usefulness (2.152) have an influence on attitude;intention is greatly influenced by attitude (15.357);and actual usage is influenced by intention (11.682). This research has specific implications for the Magelang City Rural Bank (MCRB), which needs to conduct market research to find out the potential of branchless banking that is specifically needed by the people of Magelang. Branchless banking innovation needs to be strengthened by presenting easy-to-understand and easy-to-use applications to improve the attitude of the Magelang people in adopting branchless banking applications and using them sustainably.

The role of knowledge management and sharing in cooperatives practices toward National Economic Recovery in the COVID-19 pandemic era.

The National Economic Recovery (NER) Program is one of the responses initiated by the government in Indonesia's economic recovery due to the impact of COVID-19, the target is to reduce the activities of affected communities, including cooperatives. One of the priority aspects for the program to run well and smoothly is the role of institutions in knowledge management and process sharing. This paper examines the role of knowledge management and sharing in cooperatives with qualitative limitations at the knowledge process level, knowledge design level, strategic interaction level, social participation level, academic and scientific ecosystem level, and network and partnership level. A qualitative description becomes a research method with secondary data in the form of a comparison of cooperatives in 2019-2021 as a representation before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 secondary data for 20 months from April 2020 to September 2022 in Indonesia dynamically also support sharpening the analysis. The source of cooperative data is from the publications of the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, while the source of COVID-19 data comes from the publication of the COVID-19 Task Force. The analysis is carried out by building qualitative aspects into quantitative ones that can be formulated in the form of cooperative applications. The result is that the application of the knowledge process level, knowledge design level, strategic interaction level, social participation level, academic and scientific ecosystem level, and network and partnership level can improve decision-making, capture, share, and measure institutional knowledge for the success of the NER Program.

Infodemiology on diet and weight loss behavior before and during COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia: Implication for public health promotion

Objective This study set out to explore public interest through information search trends on diet and weight loss before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. Methods The Google Trends database was evaluated for the relative internet search popularity on diet-related search terms, including top and rising diet-related terms. The search range was before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2018 to January 2022) in the Indonesia region. We analyzed the Relative Search Volume (RSV) data using line charts, correlation, and comparison tests. Results Search queries of “lose weight” was higher during the pandemic (58.34 ± 9.70 vs. 68.69 ± 7.72;p<0.05). No difference was found in diet-related searches before and after the pandemic. Public interest in the diet was higher after Eid al-Fitr (Muslims break fasting celebration day) and after the new year. Many fad diet (FD) terms were found on the top and rising terms. Conclusion After Eid al-Fitr and the new year were susceptible times for promoting a healthy diet in Indonesia. Potential need found before those times for education in inserting healthy food among fatty and sugary menus related to holidays and celebrations. Higher interest in “lose weight” was relevant to heightened obesity risk during the social restriction and heightened COVID-19 morbidity and mortality due to obesity. The high interest for rapid weight loss through FD needs to be resolved by promoting healthy diets with a more captivating message and messenger, like consistently using top terms in the keywords of the official healthy diet guidance. Future research could explore the relationship between diet and other behavior or with non-communicable diseases.

Capacity Development of Local Service Organizations Through Regional Innovation in Papua, Indonesia After the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This study aims to identify and describe the regional innovations produced in Keerom Regency, Papua Province, Indonesia after the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, to analyze integrated regional service capacity indicators with a special focus on organizational performance indicators in integrated units that can be measured quantitatively and simply. In addition, to create an understanding of organizational performance in geographic areas. The method approach uses a mixed-methods description to tell the results of the study. Secondary data were analyzed in the form of innovation proposals for as many as 108 regional innovations. The analysis used adopts local service capacity which was developed with additional indicators of innovation. Local Service Indicators used to consist of Leadership and Governance, Structure and System, Human Resources, Financial Management, Program Management, Monitoring and Evaluation Plan, Partnerships, External Relations and Networks, Knowledge Management, and Organizational Innovation. Local services are built using spreadsheet tools to make the process easier to use. The result is that organizational services in regional innovation as a whole still reach a score of 52% on a 100% scale giving the result that organizational services have been carried out amid the limitations of local governments which are characterized by limited knowledge needed, not yet optimally prepared programs, low organizational acceleration. For regional innovation, the harmonization process between planning, evaluation, and monitoring is not yet optimal.