Bekraf Developer Day Seeks to Nurture App Developers in Lombok

Bekraf Developer Day seeks to nurture app developers in Lombok. In a bid to bolster the information and technology industry, the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) launched Bekraf Developer Day (BDD) 2019 in Mataram, Lombok regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), on April 27. 

This year’s BDD workshop, which focused on the development of games and applications, was attended by 430 IT students and tech enthusiasts. Throughout the workshop, participants joined talk shows and sharing sessions with tech experts and industry players. 

Bekraf IT infrastructure director Muhammad Neil Himam said he expected the workshop to improve software development skills among programmers and enthusiasts. 

“Bekraf Development Day provides local game and app developers the opportunity to hone their skills and competencies,” Muhammad said. 

This year’s BDD features M. Nasrul Alawy, CEO of app and game development houses Alphacsoft and Alphac Studios, as one of the key speakers. Alphac Studios is notable for being the first game studio in Lombok. 

Other prominent speakers include Rachmad Imron, CEO of Bandung-based game studio Digital Happiness in West Java, known for survival horror game DreadOut; and Johannes Dumoli Tambunan, a software engineer at PT Samsung Electronic Indonesia.

Mataram is among the 10 cities that Bekraf has targeted for its BDD workshop. Previously, BDD was held in Bandar Lampung, Lampung and Gorontalo.

Muhammad went on to say that BDD was expected to assist developers in bolstering local digital ecosystems, especially for apps, games and the Internet of Things. 

According to Bekraf data, the number of homegrown start-ups has increased over the years. In 2018, the agency recorded 84 homegrown start-ups, an increase from 72 and 50 in 2017 and 2016 respectively. 

Yoza Aprilio, a data scientist from IT academy Dicoding Academy, said there had been a wide gap separating IT graduates and their careers in the tech industry. 

“Only 10 percent of those who graduated with IT-related degrees end up in IT-related careers,” Yoza said. Bekraf Developer Day seeks to nurture app developers in Lombok (rfa/kes, Panca Nugraha, The Jakarta Post)