Southeast Asia may be mad for social media, but peek behind the smartphone mania and the skills to get a job in the new economy or take a small business online are still in short supply. As the pandemic turns up the pressure to go digital, a new project from The Asia Foundation and Google.org is about to change that. (Read our companion blog piece: https://asiafoundation.org/2020/09/02/podcast-bulldozing-aseans-digital-divide/)
Southeast Asia may be mad for social media, but peek behind the smartphone mania and the skills to get a job in the new economy or take a small business online are still in short supply. As the pandemic turns up the pressure to go digital, a new project from The Asia Foundation and Google.org is about to change that. (Read our companion blog piece: https://asiafoundation.org/2020/09/02/podcast-bulldozing-aseans-digital-divide/)
Tracie Yang (00:00):
Welcome to InAsia, from the Asia Foundation. I'm Tracie Yang.
John Rieger (00:04):
And I'm John Rieger. for most of this dismal spring and summer, we've heard stories from Asia that make much the same point. Informal workers in small businesses are falling out the bottom of the economy because you can't do business if you can't breathe around your customers. This moment, the COVID-19 moment, should be the time to go online.
Tracie Yang (00:22):
The problem is that along with Asia's persistent inequality, there's also a skills gap. Millions of citizens who use Facebook every day, still don't have the digital literacy to get a job in the new economy or move their small businesses onto the internet. That's a problem that a new project from the Asia Foundation called Go Digital ASEAN, is about to address.
John Rieger (00:45):
Joining us now is the Asia Foundation's Mi Ki Kyaw Myint. who will be managing the project in Myanmar. She comes to us via that very same online infrastructure from Yangon. Mi Ki, welcome to the podcast.
Mi Ki Kyaw Myint (00:57):
Thank you for having me, John. I'm so glad to be here today.
Tracie Yang (00:59):
So Mi Ki, even though Myanmar was a late comer to the internet, millions there are now glued to smartphones and social media, but you write in this week's blog, that digital literacy is something more than that.
Mi Ki Kyaw Myint (01:14):
The digital literacy term sounds a bit confusing to many people. Some people think it is just knowing how to use Microsoft Word or the Power Points. But to me, digital literacy is an ability to find, evaluate and use information via different digital platforms in a protective and safe manner. It's also having the right digital escapes to achieve your goals. So if you're the business owner, and if you want to do the social marketing, having a social media account is not enough. It's a lot more than that.
John Rieger (01:50):
Mi Ki, you've actually spent quite a bit of time on this subject, meeting with job seekers and small businesses around the country. What surprised you most about these meetings?
Mi Ki Kyaw Myint (02:00):
Things that really strike me and surprise me, especially on the job seeker, is some of them are really, really enthusiastic to learn. They understand the importance of having the right digital skill for their future employments, but they do not know where to start. They don't have access to those trainings. There's also another group that I have met that totally lacks awareness of how digital literacy is so important for them. They kind of think that having a Facebook account or knowing how to use Microsoft Word is enough. In fact, it is not.
John Rieger (02:41):
What about the situation with small businesses and entrepreneurs?
Mi Ki Kyaw Myint (02:44):
On the business owners' side, I have met with many of them and some of them are really keen to learn about tools that will help them to stay in the market, that will help them to expand their market and access to information. But some of those, again, they do not know where to start, what kind of training they need. They do not have a clear idea of that.
John Rieger (03:08):
Myanmar is quite diverse, of course. There is an urban population in Myanmar. Some parts are also quite rural. What populations are you focusing on for this project?
Mi Ki Kyaw Myint (03:18):
Right. So when I went and talk with the youth groups and the business owner, I traveled to states and regions like the Kayin state, the Shan state, Mandalay region and also Yangon region. So the digital literacy vary state by state, the region by region and also across social economic groups. We will be focusing on the underserved communities, women, ethnic owned businesses.
Tracie Yang (03:45):
So, there's going to be a steep learning curve for a lot of them. What are some of the first things that you teach to these small businesses?
Mi Ki Kyaw Myint (03:53):
Definitely we will be teaching them the digital marketing and safe online banking and also visit financial literacy and digital tools that they can apply into their business. Another thing that I have been asked by the many business entrepreneurs is that they want to learn the best practices for the neighboring countries that use the digital tools and how they became successful. They want to learn about that. So we'll be sharing those with them as well.
Tracie Yang (04:23):
The vast majority of businesses in Myanmar are MSMEs, micro, small and medium enterprises. What will moving online do for these, sometimes, very small businesses?
Mi Ki Kyaw Myint (04:34):
So MSME, they're really behind in the digital economy and moving online would mean a lot for them. So at the moment, Myanmar SMEs are struggling with the online payment system and also not being able to use some of the digital tools. So if they can equip with those skills and the knowledge, that will help them to stay in the business, that will help them to enter into the new markets and also better serve their customers. Also, they will be able to engage the more literate job seekers and the workforce that coming into the market for their business.
Tracie Yang (05:10):
So then Mi Ki, how does the level of digital literacy in Myanmar compared to other countries in Southeast Asia?
Mi Ki Kyaw Myint (05:19):
Well, I would say the digital literacy skills of Myanmar, we are a bit of a late comer. But there is a saying that, better late the never.
John Rieger (05:30):
Mi Ki, tell us a bit about your partnership with the Myanmar Library Association.
Mi Ki Kyaw Myint (05:35):
So we're very excited to work with the Myanmar Library Association. It's a non-profit, non-governmental organization, with many experienced librarians. John, in my country, in Myanmar, librarians play a critical role. They're not only working at the libraries. In our country, librarians are educators, they are the teachers. So for this project, they will take a role of the master trainers.
Tracie Yang (06:02):
So it's a big project. Has Go Digital been a challenging rollout?
Mi Ki Kyaw Myint (06:08):
Yes, it's a big project. It's a $3 million partnership with google.org and the ASEAN secretariat. We will be providing digital skill training to 200,000 beneficiaries in all 10 countries of ASEAN. The challenge that we face at the moment is COVID 19. The whole world is now facing the global pandemic. So how do we provide training? In order for everyone to be safe at this moment, we are shifting our trainings to the online trainings. But I think it's also a good idea that we're using online trainings, so the beneficiaries will be able to practice the same time they are learning with us.
Tracie Yang (06:48):
Mi Ki Kyaw Myint. Thank you for speaking with us.
Mi Ki Kyaw Myint (06:51):
Again, thank you for having me.
John Rieger (06:53):
And that's all for the show this week. Mi Ki shares more of her thoughts and impressions about digital literacy in this week's in Asia blog. Don't miss it. Until next time on John Rieger.
Tracie Yang (07:02):
And I'm Tracie Yang.
John Rieger (07:04):
Thanks for listening.