Creating a digital ecosystem for sustainable development: Insights from Indonesian micro, small and medium enterprises

Indonesia's micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are experiencing competitive contention with the development of information and communication technology-based businesses. However, MSMEs play a significant role in most developing countries due to their contributions to economic growth. The COVID-19 lockdown brought the economic constraints, yet it also has had a positive impact, the pandemic has become a catalyst to accelerate digital-based development. The novelty of this study lies in two aspects. First, substantively, is the use of a systems approach, especially the autopoietic concept in reading the development of a digital-based MSME system. Second, in terms of the object of study, the MSME system in the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY), Indonesia, and the development of digitalization are of course the strengths of this work. In this study, the researchers describe how the MSME system responds to environmental changes. Likewise, the autopoietic concept puts emphasis on self-referential, namely, the development of a system based on his own needs through communication, which will be closely related to the sustainability of the digital-based MSME system. From a systems perspective, the resonance capability of the system in the digital ecosystem will also be detected. The study employed a qualitative approach. Using MSMEs in the DIY as a case study, this article aims to describe these enterprises' dynamic responses to the growth of digital technology as well as their role in forming a digital ecosystem. An in depth-interview was used to collect data from selected participants from both MSME and government actors. The findings reveal that the sustainability of the MSME system in DIY is determined by the internal systems' responses to the latest advances in digital technology as well as the ecological quality of the system, especially as related to the resonance of MSMEs' subsystem. Autopoietic mechanisms are represented through the communication discourses of system-forming elements covered by support from the government, business, and higher education sectors as well as the local community. However, problems are still evident, so the integration and synergy of the digital MSME ecosystem diverse elements are necessary to ensure sustainable development in the future. © 2023 Kasetsart University.

Public communication in the time of pandemic: Lessons from Indonesia

This study aims to explain the public communication processes used by local leaders in Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic. As elsewhere, the pandemic exposed the Indonesian government's public communication crises, especially at the early stages of the outbreak. Public communication has a vital role in increasing public awareness of contemporary issues. In Indonesia, public communication is the responsibility of the central and local governments. The success or failure of policies rely on the effectiveness of public communication endeavours undertaken. Using qualitative content analysis, this study investigates and compares the social media content produced by several regional leaders in Indonesia in the pandemic’s early months. This approach makes it possible to evaluate local governments’ public communication during the pandemic and provide essential lessons for the future. Research involved the following stages: first, it explored and explicated the relevant literature on rhetoric and public communication;second, it elucidated Aristotle’s three pillars of persuasion, which were used as units of study;third, qualitative content analysis was applied to the social media content produced by Indonesia’s regional leaders. The findings are twofold: first, referring to Aristotle’s three pillars of persuasion (ethos, logos, pathos), regional leaders use a more personal and emotional approach to convey their COVID-19 policies rather than a data-based one. Second, regional leaders’ approaches are influenced by their preferred social media for communicating with the public;different persuasive elements are used on different social media, and these influence the effectiveness of local governments’ public communication. © SEARCH Journal 2021.

Pandemic in the complexity of the Digital Era How online media in Indonesia construct the reality of COVID-19

This article aims to examine the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic constructed by online media outlets in Indonesia as one of the primary sources of information during the crisis. It uses qualitative content analysis to determine how online media in Indonesia construct the reality of COVID-19. The country's eight most accessed online media websites are the objects of this study with a three-unit analysis: context, message, and tone. The result shows that Indonesian media coverage has predominantly emphasised the pandemic's political context over the health and economic context. Informants have predominantly been politicians;epidemiologists and scientists have been given little space. In this case, the media system in Indonesia through online news media were not able to play an optimal role in the early phases of the pandemic due to the tendency of this news construction.