Aid in Action
USAID SENADA and Microsoft Team Up to Provide a Boost to Indonesia’s Young IT Innovators
iMULAI introduces participants to lessons on how to become an entrepreneur
Jakarta |
Saturday, November 01, 2008
USAID/Danumurthi Mahendra
The three iMULAI competition winners display their awards at the award ceremony on February 13, 2008. From left to right: SENADA Project Director Steve Smith, USAID Mission Director Walter North, iMULAI competition winner Andri Yadi of PT Dycode Cominfotech Development, winner Dr. Ahmad Rusdiansyah of ITS, winner Yugo Goutomo of PT Sentra Solusi Integrasi, U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Cameron Hume, and Tony Chen, President Director Microsoft Indonesia.
Without business innovation, Indonesia risks falling behind its global competitors. Innovative processes and products can jumpstart productivity, improve quality, and excite consumers. Using modern information technology to develop business solutions is an especially promising area for innovation. Many activities could be streamlined through the application of well-designed software, and there are countless niche markets that can be exploited. However, young information communication technology (ICT) developers who possess technical expertise and creativity can find it difficult to move from the stage of dreaming up a business solution to actually developing and marketing it. Inadequate funds and lack of business skills can both be barriers for would-be entrepreneurs.
Through USAID’s SENADA project, USAID has partnered with Microsoft Indonesia in the “iMULAI” program, which was designed to overcome problems of innovation through ICT and stimulate the development of new applications that will contribute to the development of Indonesia’s light manufacturing industries. iMULAI was launched in November 2007 after a competition that resulted in over 100 proposals to elicit the best in innovative ICT solutions.
USAID and Microsoft provided entrepreneurial training to the applicants, conducting workshops and seminars that helped over 150 attendees to sharpen skills related to developing business proposals, accessing finance, marketing and promotion, and networking.
Three winning ideas were selected in February 2008, based on the quality of their business plans, originality and creativity of the innovations, their potential for industry-wide impact, and their sustainability. The winners received support in the form of business hardware and software from Microsoft valued at USD $15,000, and a grant from SENADA in the amount of USD $25,000.
The original iMULAI program has proven so effective that a second round is being launched in November 2008, with the expectation that more Indonesian entrepreneurs will be able to flourish thanks to the joint efforts of Microsoft and USAID.