Indonesia’s 2012 Google Policy Fellowship Winner to Examine Small Businesses by Women

Kompas.com is reporting that Ambar Sari Dewi, a lecturer from State Islamic University Sunan Kalijaga, has been named as the 2012 Indonesia Google Policy Research Fellow. With her proposed research titled “The Adoption of ICT Innovation by Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Owned and Run by Women in Yogyakarta and Central Java,” Ambar has been granted $7,500 in research funds.

As stated on Indonesia’s ICT Watch website, the country’s Google Policy Fellowship is a program for Indonesian academics (undergraduate, postgraduate, or doctoral) who are passionate about the dynamic of the internet as a new medium in Indonesia.

In her proposal, Ambar notes that she has previously conducted several research projects regarding the use of information and communication technology by local people, such as her “Analysis of Facebook Users and E-commerce Behaviour in Yogyakarta” and “The Role of Community Media in Disaster Risk Reduction in Yogyakarta and Central Java” in 2010.

I took a look at her proposed research activities and notice that one of her research outputs will be a mini handbook for organizations interested to help SMEs owned and run by women. I think that such a handbook will be helpful especially for people in rural parts of Yogyakarta and Central Java that wish to utilize internet-related technology for their businesses.