Agi Agung Galuh Purwa is the Secretary of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Department of the West Java Provincial Government in Indonesia. Its main function is to implement the West Java governor's vision on digitalization, to improve the digital landscape, and to reduce the digital divide between rural-urban areas within the province.
Agi obtained his bachelor's degree from the Institute of Government Studies in 2005 with a focus on political sciences and government. He then continued his studies at the University of Bradford under the World Bank scholarship for a master’s program focused on policy research in the human development index in 2011. In 2018, Agi graduated from Seoul National University with a second master’s in social media and government responsiveness.
West Java is one of the largest provinces in Indonesia. With an area of 35 thousand square kilometers, there are 5,312 villages in West Java Province. One of the challenges West Java Province faces is the distribution of internet networks between regions. According to data obtained from Ookla in 2020, the southern region of West Java is an area that has many blank spots (conditions in which an area is not touched or covered by communication signals). To answer this challenge, West Java implemented a Kawasan Desa Digital program to narrow the disparity in internet access between rural and urban areas. The West Java Coding Camp training was held for 55 participants total, with 15 participants attending offline training and 40 participants attending online training. The participant recruitment was open to anyone who residing in Kawasan Desa Digital, West Java Province. There were two classes: DevOps Engineer and Network Engineer. Project participants learned about different aspects of computer programming including internet network design, device configuration, cloud operations (AWS, Azure, GCP), and programming languages (Python, .NET, Java, and JavaScript).
Agi was a participant in the IVLP Project Adopting Innovative Technology in the Digital Economy, organized by the U.S. Department of State and FHI 360 in partnership with WorldOrlando, Global Ties Idaho, and Global Ties San Francisco.
Agi's exchange experience led to the development of his IVLP Impact Award Project: "[My] IVLP experience has become one of the pivotal factors for my career development. The experience gave me a broader perspective on ICT development based on best practices in the USA."
San Francisco, CA; Washington, DC; Orlando, FL; Boise, ID
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