The era dominated by technological advances is characterized by digital transformation that occurs in various sectors, including the business and economic sectors. Now, the digital economy is starting to become a business trend in Indonesia and is one of the important pillars of the nation’s economic growth.
This technological trend in entrepreneurship is very useful for solving problems faced by business people in running their businesses. There are many companies that make technology the center of their business activities, such as startup companies. The presence of this technology will replace some work processes replaced by digital application systems that run automatically.
Based on data from the Indonesian E-commerce Association (idEA) as of May 2021, there are around 13.7 million players, or 21% of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that have tried to blend in with the digital ecosystem. This means that more than 70% are still loyal to using conventional methods in running their business. This cannot be separated from the various benefits that can be obtained from business digitalization.
First, the transaction process becomes easier and more efficient. This ease of transaction is one of the selling points of business digitalization. Digitalization allows businesses to complete transactions with consumers without having to face them directly. In fact, digital transactions can make every service in business faster.
Second, the market is wider. Digitalization is a way to achieve greater business success. This is inseparable from the opportunity for business actors to reach a wider market. Interaction in the online space provides an opportunity for businesses to interact with consumers from various places, even those thousands of kilometers away.
Third, work becomes more systematic. The implementation of digitalization plays an important role in completing various jobs at one time more concisely and quickly. This is closely related to data search, archiving, and storage forms.
In the future, the technology trend will certainly be more sophisticated and can help and facilitate business actors or MSMEs and startups. With the presence of many new breakthroughs, such as artificial intelligence or what is commonly called Artificial Intelligence (AI). Currently, AI is also widely used by startups in their products for smooth business services, for example in Chatbiz.id startups that focus on improving business services such as chat panels, chatbots, and data analytics. Then, there is also the startup T-man which focuses on natural language processing and voice processing specifically for the Indonesian language for meeting transcripts and others.
There are also types of AI that can help entrepreneurs to grow their business. Like Eeureka AI which helps startups develop digital businesses and financial inclusion. There is also Koinworks, a digital financial services company that uses AI to help MSMEs simplify access to finance and improve financial literacy. In addition, there are also end-to-end farming solutions through AI with smart farming technology and machine learning, as developed by PT Pitik Digital Indonesia which is implemented in broiler breeders.
Then, the trend of software development in technology also continues to change every year. This can be seen from the many digital businesses that are changing and growing rapidly. They decide to switch and utilize cloud-based software for example in order to access, store, or manage data virtually with an internet network connected to the server.
Not only that, technological developments will be further advanced with cellular network connections upgraded to 5G. This network has started operating in Indonesia, one by one operators have presented their 5G services to the public, one of which is PT. Indosat Tbk Hutchison. With faster services and greater capacity compared to 4G networks, the presence of 5G technology not only opens up the potential for services to communicate between humans but also integrates human networks with machines, as well as machine-to-machine communication networks.
The presence of these new technological trends will shape the future of MSMEs and startups to be more advanced and rapidly growing. Provided, MSMEs and startups are able to carry out digital transformation and utilize technology properly. Moreover, digital startups have the potential to become a driving force that can advance the nation’s economy.
The various innovations presented by digital startups can also help the development of MSME businesses in the future. However, there also needs to be support from the government and stakeholders to help startups develop new technologies that are prevalent in society so that MSMEs can access and utilize these technologies freely.
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