To Strengthen Digital-Driven Village Governance, a Team of Faculty Members from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Unsri Provides Training for Officials and Residents of Ulak Kerbau Baru Village

A team of faculty members from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Sriwijaya University (FISIP Unsri) organized a community service activity through a program to build the capacity of village officials and residents in advocating for digitization policies in Ulak Kerbau Baru Village, Tanjung Raja Subdistrict, Ogan Ilir Regency, on Saturday, August 15, 2026. This activity, which is part of the Fiscal Year 2026 Region-Based Community Service program, was led by Dr. Andries Lionardo, S.IP., M.Si., along with six academic team members: Sofyan Effendi, S.IP., M.Si., Ryan Adam, S.I.Kom., M.I.Kom., Arrahman Syafebri, S.I.P., M.Si., Alvina Sevtiani, S.A.P., M.Si., Juliantina, S.S., M.S., and Amma Fathuurrahmaan, S.IP., M.KP.

This community service program was motivated by the need to transform rural governance in the digital age. The community service team emphasized that the digitization of village governance cannot rely solely on the availability of hardware infrastructure; rather, it requires capacity building for human resources so that both government officials and the community can manage information, improve the quality of public services, and formulate policies aligned with the real needs of residents.

In its implementation, the team of academics from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) at Unsri provided outreach, technical training, hands-on practice, and comprehensive guidance on the stages of public policy advocacy. The training materials covered techniques for identifying social issues in the community, methods for gathering residents’ input, data processing, drafting policy recommendations, public communication strategies, and monitoring and evaluating policy implementation at the village level.

To support an efficient and transparent participatory process, participants were also trained to use various popular and easily accessible digital platforms. These platforms include the use of Google Forms as a tool for gathering community input online, the use of Google Meet and Zoom to support remote coordination, and the optimization of social media as a channel for disseminating information and ensuring transparency in village policies.

The concrete implementation of this mentoring is reflected in the mapping of village development needs, which involved 215 respondents from the village of Ulak Kerbau Baru. The results of this digital survey successfully identified five main priorities among community aspirations: improvement of village road infrastructure (68 percent), development of the agricultural sector (54 percent), providing public internet access (37 percent), improving the quality of education (29 percent), and strengthening health services (21 percent). These findings subsequently served as the data foundation for village officials in formulating targeted development policy recommendations.