Gojek initiative aims to improve Indonesia's digital literacy

Gojek is working with the Indonesian government to address the country's digital literacy gap.

The Jakarta-headquartered ride-hailing app has partnered with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and the University of Gadjah Mada to create a public awareness campaign on the various types of online fraud and how to avoid falling victim.

The education campaign will take place in six cities and include public-service announcements and seminars conducted by the university. Gojek will attempt to increase education and instill good cybersecurity habits through in-app games.

Co-CEO Kevin Aluwi said Gojek "wants to be the platform that consumers go to not only for solutions to their everyday challenges, but also because they feel safe and at ease using services on our platform".

“As the Gojek platform continues to grow and impact more people in Indonesia and across the region, so does our commitment to protecting our users," he added. "Central to this is our focus on providing users with the knowledge and tools necessary to ensure their wellbeing."

Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, the director general of informatics applications at Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, called Indonesia's situation "very unique".

"While digital usage in Indonesia is among the highest in the world, with around 170 million internet users, digital literacy is still relatively low," he said. "In order not to lose momentum, we must work hard together to improve Indonesia’s digital literacy."

Gojek has a cybersecurity unit called Gojek Shield, that employs a combination of data scientists, engineers, cybersecurity experts and machine learning to eliminate risks and detect suspicious behaviour on the Gojek platform. Last week, the unit provided evidence to the Indonesian police that led to the arrest of several cyber criminal syndicates, including modified application (mod app) developers. The anti-fraud unit recently suspended 120 drivers in Singapore who were using mod apps.

The superapp has a strong relationship with the Indonesian government. In fact, its founder and CEO left the company in October last year to join President Joko Widodo's cabinet as Minister of Education and Culture.