The Public Administration Program (Prodi IAP) of the Faculty of Social Science and Political Sciences (FISIP) at the Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) is actively working to enhance technological adaptation in rural areas. Over the past three years, the Public Administration Program has collected various data, which has been organized into village profiles, village sketches, and village videos. The results of these efforts have been compiled into a village website. The creation on the village website is a progressive step to prepare villages for current technological advancements. In Indonesia, with over 80 thousand villages, only a few have their own websites. USU presence will accelerate rural development, especially in areas within USU reach, where the university has the capability to build websites.
The launch of the village website and training on its utilization took place in in Tanjung Putus Village, Langkat Regency, Indonesia.
Higher education, in this case, the Public Administration Program, plays a strategic role in advancing villages or village governments. Faculty members and students actively engage in solving issues within the village. The launch of this website is one concrete manifestation of the Universitas Sumatera Utara responsibility to the surrounding community, as said by Dra. Februati Trimurni, M.Si, Ph.D. Over three years, the IAP Program regularly dispatched students for field activities, supported by expert faculty members. These activities were conducted within the framework of research and community service, formally part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between USU and Langkat Regency.
Training for creating the village website involved instructing village officials to proficiently input data into the website. Additionally, village activities, documented through videos or photos, were trained to be uploaded to the website. Even village regulations were displayed on the website for easy dissemination to all villagers. Training participants were also equipped with skills for independently managing the website. The village website will facilitate access to important information and data, simultaneously promoting the village on a broader stage.
The Head of the IAP Program added that Indonesia is currently promoting rural development, with state funds allocated to empower villages, especially in infrastructure. However, USU provides soft skills intervention, aiming to incorporate information technology into villages for broader benefits to the community. She also emphasize that USU plays an important role so that national government policies can be implemented more quickly and effectively. USU plan to train other villages to have similar advantages, enabling them to introduce themselves globally because they have their own websites. This is how USU contributes to realizing a global village for the benefit of rural communities and the global progress of humanity.