The Chief Executive Officer of Twitter Inc., Dick Costolo (@dickc), celebrated a new official branch launching in Jakarta, Indonesia – One of the countries with the biggest number of Twitter users in the world.
In his #AwalBaru (New Start) visit as a CEO, Dick stated that in 2015 Twitter is focusing on four important areas for Indonesia:
- For Users, Twitter is planning to support data innovation with real social impacts with Pulse Lab Jakarta (PLJ): a collaboration of United Nations and BAPPENAS.
- For Business People, Twitter will support small and medium enterprises to connect and trade with their Twitter followers in Indonesia and throughout the world.
- For Educational Institutions, Twitter will create a fellowship program called #Twitter4WaniTek (from wanita (women) and teknologi (technology)) with Universitas Indonesia to support second-year female students from underprivileged families or with remarkable academic achievements and grades in the Faculty of Computer Science UI. This is Twitter’s first scholarship program ever which is designed to encourage more Indonesian women to play roles in IT world and to improve the quality of IT knowledge and proficiency in the community.
- For Communities, Twitter plans to work with several nongovernmental organizations in order to understand more the social trends and issues that are happening in Indonesia. This is also a part of Twitter’s new campaign, #Twitter4Good.
“It’s an honor and a great pleasure to take part in Indonesia’s colorful business and culture, one of the biggest internet and mobile markets in the world. “I am very impressed at the various ways in which users use Twitter every day,” said Dick Costolo. “As a part of our commitment in opening a new branch here, we are planning for several collaboration programs and local activities this year to provide data access for Twitter users. This can be beneficial for development programs and it gives more opportunities for small and medium enterprises. It is also empowering more women with various backgrounds to take part in technology industries.”
Anthea Webb, the Resident Coordinator for United Nations in Indonesia said, “Indonesia’s young people have been innovating in using social media to build a better future. The collaboration of Jakarta Pulse Lab, UN, and Indonesian government has shown the potency and positive values of social media. We gladly welcome Twitter’s plan to improve the power of social media as the supporter of Indonesians’ dynamic needs.”
“Through the #Twitter4WaniTek scholarship program, Twitter is helping our mission to encourage women from underprivileged background or with remarkable educational achievements to study computer science in UI,” said Dr. Mirna Adriani from the Faculty of Computer Science UI. “It is one of our goals to give equal opportunity for every Indonesian to study computer science so that with IT, a better life can be achieved.”