I Like Digital Technology. Here’s Why.

Digital technology has played a big part in my life. It’s what helps me grow in the Internet Era. When I was about to finish high school, I began learning to code after hours of research on how digital technology works. I decided I want to be a part of it.

Here’s a little backstory.

I did my first online transaction in 2018 when I purchased an Internet of Things kit. I had a basic understanding of IoT and would like to learn more about it. I could hardly find that kit around local stores, so I delved into the browser and ended up with AliExpress. With the help of my friends, we found that it had the best deal at that time. Since then, my purchasing behavior started to shift as the Internet expanded its moves. However, foreign purchases and payments were new to me at that time. It made me wonder about the presence of ecommerce in Indonesia at that time. Yes, the ecommerce market penetration was still early at that time in my country, Indonesia. The ecommerce sector in Indonesia accounted only for 3.9% of total retail sales in 2018, reported Statista Research Department.

Speaking gracefully, my online purchase experience at that time gave me insights into how powerful the Internet could be. It amazed me how international transactions can happen straightforwardly with digital technology.

Since then, I’d be looking for opportunities in digital technology that I could leverage or contribute. Programming was new to me, but I find myself enjoy my learning journey as it made me wonder how digital platforms work.

Later, I took Computer Science as my study major and had my first professional experience in software development while I was a Web Developer Intern at my school. Although the software development cycle there was not that good, giving me unpractical programming techniques in developing the website, I met some mentors that helped me grow.

Months passed, the COVID-19 had impacted lives around the globe for most of 2020, but people were welcoming some shifts happening around at the same time. The role of the Internet had become more important since then as people were opting for social distancing. Digital Skills Insight 2020 reported that many activities related to work, school/education, caring, shopping moved from the physical to the virtual world. It also published that Internet-based companies such as Amazon, Zoom, Netflix, and TikTok experienced record growth in sales and customer base. While others, such as traveling and transport-related platforms, faced a steep decline.

Realizing that there is an increasing demand for digital skills, I decided to sell my digital skills through freelancing as it got me interested. I found it challenging to get a client by myself and help them solve their problems with digital technology. Days of self-promoting through the Internet, I got my first project offer. Besides the skills like communication I got from there, It was a good experience for me as I could get myself the same amount of bucks only in three days compared to a month working in my former intern position.

Since then, I have executed several projects and worked with several companies. I enjoy the journey this far. Until today, I am still looking forwards to bringing impacts with digital technology that help people in Indonesia and others grow and solve their problems.

I’m super happy to welcome the transformation we could have in the future caused by technology and how we can leverage it to build better lives, no matter what. What future impacts do you think technology will bring to us?