Government Launches Digital Talent Scholarships

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - The Ministry of Creative Economy/Creative Economy Agency launched the "Agency for Creative Economy Digital Talent (BDT) 2026" training scholarship program. This program emphasizes the government's commitment to training creative talent capable of utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to boost work productivity.

BDT 2026 is an intensive, multi-level digital competency program that combines the development of technical (hard) skills and interpersonal (soft) skills based on a global industry curriculum. This program aims to enhance the capacity of creative economy practitioners through self-paced online learning using a global standard curriculum developed by Dicoding.

"The Creative Economy Agency's Digital Talent Program is designed to address the skills and talent gap while ensuring participants have competencies aligned with technological developments, including AI. Through the 2026 BDT Program, we aim to bridge industry needs with the availability of competent digital talent. This aligns with our commitment to realizing the creative economy as a new engine of economic growth," Deputy for Digital Creativity and Technology at the Ministry of Creative Economy, Muhammad Neil El Himam said at the Gedung Film Auditorium in Jakarta on Tuesday April 14 2026.

This collaborative program with Dicoding Indonesia carries the theme "Productivity with AI Bootcamp," which aims to strengthen digital talent as the key to better preparing the nation's AI talent pool. The 2025 National AI Roadmap White Paper states that 36 percent of Indonesia's human resources require new training, with 30 percent requiring upskilling and 22 percent requiring complete retraining.

"With all of Indonesia's potential, we can become a leader in Southeast Asia in accelerating AI capabilities for productivity. We sincerely hope that BDT 2026 will produce superior and competitive creative talent in AI, enabling them to become more productive in advancing Indonesia's 17 creative economy subsectors," Deputy Neil stated.

Meanwhile, Dicoding CEO, Narendra Wicaksono, stated that the long-standing collaboration with the Creative Economy Agency (Badan Ekraf) has been ongoing since 2016 and has generated an economic impact of IDR 306 billion, 15,168 IT certifications, and 215,000 digital talents receiving skills development.

"Dicoding is a learning institution with a mission to develop Indonesian talent on a global scale. During Dicoding's 11 years in the industry, 1.3 million developers have registered and studied on the platform, around 879,000 of whom have received scholarships," Narendra conveyed.

He also highlighted the rapid adoption of AI across various subsectors as a form of skill development that supports productivity in the creative industry.

"The Dicoding survey results indicate that 86 percent of developers are already using AI, and 94 percent of these developers have experienced a surge in productivity. Dicoding welcomes the BDT 2026 initiative, which will train participants to simplify work processes toward more measurable AI utilization and impact their professional portfolios," Narendra said.

According to a release received by RRI Voice of Indonesia on Tuesday Aprl 14, 2026, the BDT 2026 program will open registration for 2,200 participants, focusing on learning AI for work efficiency and productivity on Dicoding's online platform, or learning management system (LMS).

They will learn practical guidance on using AI, selecting the right productivity tools, and mastering prompt engineering techniques, balanced with ethical awareness and strategies for adapting to technology.

The BDT 2026 program will open registration for 2,200 participants, focusing on learning AI for work efficiency and productivity on the Dicoding online platform or learning management system (LMS). They will learn practical guidance on using AI, selecting the right productivity tools, and mastering prompt engineering techniques, balanced with ethical awareness and strategies for adapting to technology.

"The BDT 2026 program is a strategic initiative to develop digital talent capable of mastering AI and driving limitless productivity. Participants learn not only theory but also hands-on practice through a curriculum relevant to industry needs," said Dicoding COO, Dimas Catur Wibowo.

Join the Digital Talent Agency (BDT) 2026 now to master AI and achieve limitless productivity. Register before May 31, 2026, at http://bdt.dicoding.com/.