The Student Community Service (KKN) program serves as momentum for students to apply academic knowledge to real solutions for society. A. Faiq Fawaz Charies, an Informatics Engineering student at the University of 17 Agustus 1945 (Untag) Surabaya, had the opportunity to carry out a digital transformation by developing a Digital Warehouse Inventory System for the Merah Putih Village Cooperative (KDMP) in Sidokumpul Village, Bungah District, Gresik Regency.
In this project, Faiq did not just write code, but had to go through a long iterative process to ensure the system built was truly relevant to the needs of the cooperative management. Starting from complex initial discussions, he chose to simplify the interface design and add a minimum stock notification feature so that the administrators, who were previously unfamiliar with web-based systems, could monitor the stock of basic foods and agricultural tools more efficiently.
Technical challenges, such as unstable internet connections and data synchronization issues, were part of the dynamics of system development in the field. Faiq emphasized that a developer's readiness lies not only in the ability to write code, but also in the capacity to provide patient guidance and explain technical functions in a language easily understood by lay users.
Social interactions outside of technical activities, such as community work (gotong royong) and casual discussions with residents, also helped Faiq understand the real needs of the cooperative. This humanistic approach proved effective in building the management's trust in the newly introduced digital system.
Although the status of the system's usage is still in the initial introduction phase, the appreciation from KDMP Sidokumpul is a valuable asset for the students' capacity development. The experience in Sidokumpul Village provides an important lesson that effective technology is technology that prioritizes usability and benefit to the community, rather than just the sophistication of features on paper.
