MPR Encourages Gen Z Digital Economy Based on Four Pillars

Member of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Siti Mukaromah is encouraging Generation Z to leverage digital economy opportunities while remaining grounded in the values of the Four Pillars of Nationality, ensuring they do not lose their identity amidst rapid technological advancement. “In utilising technology, do not abandon religious and national rules. Creative freedom must remain within the corridors of norms, ethics, and national values,” Siti said during an event on strengthening and socialising the Four Pillars, themed ‘Accelerating the Digital Economy Based on the Four Pillars of Nationality’, in Purwokerto, Banyumas Regency, Central Java, on Friday. She stated that the Four Pillars—Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, and Bhinneka Tunggal Ika—must serve as a guide for the younger generation in navigating technological developments while seizing digital economy opportunities. According to her, technological progress opens vast opportunities for young people to develop creative businesses, market products, and promote regional potential. Siti cited Banyumas’s various economic potentials, such as palm sugar which has become an export commodity, as well as MSMEs and livestock farming that can be developed through digital marketing. “Banyumas is a very rich region. Many potentials can be developed into economic resources; it is just a matter of how we process and market them using technology,” said the legislator, who is also a member of House Commission VII. She noted that the growth of the digital economy also opens many opportunities, meaning the younger generation does not have to depend solely on formal employment. “This mentoring will not stop at today’s forum. In the future, it could take the form of smaller discussions, bringing in motivators or training according to fields of interest so that friends are better prepared to face the future,” she said. Speaking after the event, the legislator, familiarly known as Erma, said the rapid flow of information in the digital era necessitates continuous reinforcement of the Four Pillars, especially for Generation Z, who in about two decades will become leaders and policymakers in various fields. She noted that easy access to information allows both positive and negative influences to easily enter the lives of young people. “If that foundation is lost, what enters are pragmatic values they obtain from the digital space. Yet, in about 19 years, Generation Z will hold various strategic roles in national and state life,” she said. She added that strengthening national values is a shared responsibility, from families and schools to policymakers. According to her, character education, religious values, and the habit of upholding norms, manners, and etiquette must also be continuously strengthened so that the younger generation can utilise technology wisely without abandoning their national identity.