VP Gibran backs UTDI push to strengthen santri digital literacy

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3 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka supported an initiative by the Indonesian Digital Technology University (UTDI) to strengthen digital literacy among santri, or Islamic boarding school students, through training from artificial intelligence (AI) to cybersecurity.

“We were received very well by the Vice President regarding our program to carry out digital literacy for santri in Indonesia,” Widya Bakti Education Foundation Chair Teguh Wijono Budi Prasejitio said in a statement quoted here on Friday.

The meeting, held at the VP Palace on Thursday (October 22), coincided with the commemoration of 2026 National Santri Day.

It discussed concrete steps to expand learning access and technology adaptation at pesantren, or Islamic boarding schools, across the country.

Prasejitio explained that the training program planned by UTDI covers several fields of knowledge that are highly relevant to the rapid pace of change and industry needs.

“Among them are AI, then big data, and also digipreneur,” he said.

He said the education curriculum will also be enriched with other crucial fields such as cybersecurity to protect data and digital infrastructure.

In the discussion, it was reported that VP Gibran welcomed the foundation’s initiative and gave full support for the plan to strengthen santri’s future skills.

Likewise, UTDI Rector Sri Redjeki affirmed her institution’s commitment to facilitating improvement of information technology skills among students through further training.

“To provide various kinds of training going forward related to beyond the existing policy for strengthening digital technology among the santri here,” she said.

The implementation of the education program is ultimately expected to open opportunities for santri to adapt to technological progress while actively contributing to advancing Indonesia’s digital ecosystem.