Ministry Attends UNAIR Open Doctoral Defense, Discusses Digital Democracy Gen Z

RRI.CO,ID, Surabaya - Indonesia's Minister of Creative Economy, Teuku Riefky Harsya, attended an Open Doctoral Defense session at the Graduate School of Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) in Surabaya on September 3, 2026. His attendance was part of a broader effort to strengthen synergy between the government and academia in responding to the challenges of developing the creative economy ecosystem amid rapid digital technology advancement.

According to Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, the presence of several ministers at the open doctoral defense reflected the significance and relevance of the dissertation being examined, particularly its connection to the growing intersection between the digital space, young people, and the creative economy, especially Generation Z. "This dissertation shows that we should not only provide digital space for the growth of democracy, particularly for Indonesia's younger generation, but also ensure the impact of that participation on our quality," Agus said.

The open doctoral defense examined a dissertation titled "The Influence of Digital Democracy, Political Literacy, and Post-Truth Politics on Generation Z's Political Participation in Indonesia's 2024 Election," written by Agust Jovan Latuconsina. The topic was considered relevant to the transformation of the creative economy, which is increasingly shaping how young people access information, interact, create work, and participate across digital spaces.

Minister Teuku, Riefky Harsya, said universities such as UNAIR play a strategic role as sources of knowledge, research, and innovation. "This dissertation also shows that digital democracy has a positive and significant influence on Generation Z's participation. For the creative economy, this development is highly relevant because young people are a key part of the digital ecosystem, while also having great potential as creators and drivers of the creative industry," he said

He added that cross-sector collaboration is needed to produce creative economy development policies and strategies grounded in knowledge, research, and data, while also responding to changing youth behavior amid accelerating technology. "That is why we need to ensure digital spaces can be used to encourage creativity, innovation, and the emergence of value-added works," he said.

The dissertation's findings pointed to a strong link between digital space and Generation Z's engagement, with one conclusion stating that digital democracy has a positive and significant effect on Generation Z's political participation in Indonesia's 2024 election. The dissertation's author, Jovan, explained that digital democracy has a paradoxical nature, as it simplifies access to information, socialization, evaluation, and monitoring, making it easier to attract broad participation in terms of quantity.