Amid shifting consumer behavior and increasingly fierce market competition, business management digitalization has become an urgent need for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). This step is crucial so that the sector, which serves as the backbone of the national economy, can survive and continue to grow.
Head of Accounting Research and Development at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada (FEB UGM), Haryono, revealed that MSMEs contributed around 60 percent to Indonesia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in recent years. Despite their enormous contribution, business governance in this sector is still considered to require significant improvement.
To facilitate technological adaptation, Haryono explained three important stages that are often misunderstood by the public: digitization, digitalization, and digital transformation. Digitization is a simple conversion from physical to digital, such as changing paper documents into PDF files, while digitalization optimizes business processes using technologies such as cloud computing. Meanwhile, digital transformation involves a comprehensive shift in business models using artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics.
Although digitalization offers many benefits, such as expanding market access, operational cost efficiency, and opening export opportunities, MSME players still face various real obstacles. Some major obstacles often encountered in the field include low digital literacy, limited infrastructure, high initial investment, and resistance to changes in organizational work culture.
As a concrete solution to these obstacles, FEB UGM introduced a web-based application called the Debit Credit System Enterprise Resource Planning (Sidek-ERP). This software is specifically designed to help MSME actors plan their businesses in an integrated manner, simplify bookkeeping, and prepare financial reports faster, more accurately, and reliably.
