Several young women from various educational backgrounds presented their works on UI/UX design and web development during the Demo Day 2024 event, held in Jakarta on November 26.
They are recipients of scholarships from the program called Perempuan Inovasi—initiated by Markoding-a non-profit organization aimed at providing digital skills training for Indonesian underprivileged youth—Dian Sastro Foundation (established by Indonesian renowned actress Dian Sastrowardoyo, with a focus on supporting women’s education, arts and culture—and advertising agency Magnifique.
Source: https://www.instagram.com/perempuaninovasi/
The program—which started in 2022—provides free scholarships for women who want to gain digital skills, such as web development and UI/UX design. The scholarship does not have complicated requirements as long as the participant is female, committed to following the training, and owns a laptop and internet connection.
Participants collaborated in a team and presented their websites and apps that can help solve common problems women face, such as education, safety, and health.
For example, the the app Breastie from one of the teams in the the UI/UX category. The app was designed to provide information on breast cancer and remind women to check their condition.
Indonesian Women in STEM
According to research from Boston Consulting Group, in 2017, only 22 percent of Indonesian women worked in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), the lowest percentage in Southeast Asia.
Citing World Bank data, Amanda Simandjuntak, CEO and Founder of Marketing, stated that Indonesia needs nine million digital talents by 2030.
“We have the opportunity, but women’s participation in STEM is still low. That’s why we initiated Perempuan Inovasi movement,” Amanda said.
She elaborated on the movement’s intensive five-month training, which included technical and soft skills training and building digital solution prototypes for gender-based problems, such as child marriage and lack of access to education and healthcare.
“One of the soft skills we include is compassion as we want them to be impactful,” she added.
Perempuan Inovasi Achievement
From 2022 to 2024, more than 35,000 women gained access to UI/UX design and web development training, and 182 of them received boot camp scholarships.
“We are going to improve the access equality given that 88 percent of participants are located in West Indonesia. Interestingly, around 10 percent of participants are housewives. It means that if we open the access, many women are motivated to learn digital skills and they are potential,” Amanda stated, adding that the program has forged a partnership with reputed names in tech industry such as IBM.
Perempuan Inovasi also offers support systems for learners through social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram groups. It also facilitates visits to tech companies, and participants can learn new insights from women experienced in the technology industry.
“In the future, we are going to open new classes on AI, cyber security, and data science,” Amanda said.
The program also prepares participants for work by holding a mentoring session on career preparation.
Perempuan Inovasi received a grant from L’Oreal this year and was shortlisted for nature awards that inspired women in science in partnership with Estee Lauder.
Innovation and AI
Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, Prof.Stella Christie, confirmed that, based on various studies, men and women have equal capabilities in technology and mathematics.
“Innovation always comes from questions and problems around us. If we ask how women can boost digital innovation, we, as women, pay attention to details to issues around us,” the professor said in the talk show session.
Regarding AI, both Stella and Dian warned about the unethical use of AI tools.
“As I am from the film industry and have concerns over the impact of ChatGPT use on scriptwriter. ChatGPT makes everything easier as we type prompts and all the results are out. However, it is ironic if young generation is being spoiled by ChatGPT. If we rely on it, why should we have the Indonesian Film Festival ( as there is an award for the best scriptwriter”, said Dian, a prominent actress who is active in women empowerment activities.
Stella, a professor on Cognitive Science, warned the excessive use of ChatGPT in education.
“If we rely on ChatGPT 100 percent, we cannot tell the originality, whether it is good or not,” the professor at Tsinghua University, China stated.
For further information on scholarships and bootcamps, click www.perempuaninovasi.com.
