Read in Indonesian here.
Kartini Day is often a moment to reflect on women’s long struggle for education and equal opportunity. Yet decades after her fight, access to education remains out of reach for many women across Indonesia. Data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) shows that in several provinces, the average years of schooling for women still fall far below the national average of 8.79 years in 2025. This disparity highlights that not all women have equal opportunities to complete basic education, let alone continue learning beyond it [1].
This disparity is especially evident in Papua Pegunungan. Here, women’s average years of schooling stand at just 3.6 years. In practice, this means many girls are still unable to complete basic education.
Igniting Hope from Eastern Indonesia
Ory Mangiri’s journey as an educator began in 2010, when she was appointed as a civil servant and immediately assigned to a remote area of Papua Pegunungan, Nduga Regency. At the time, the region had no cellular network, no electricity, and no land transportation access. The only way to reach her school was by a small Pilatus aircraft carrying only seven to eight passengers.
There were no commercial flights serving the area. Each trip required chartering a plane, with one-way costs reaching millions of rupiah. As a result, teachers could travel in and out only a few times each year. Yet despite these constraints, the classroom was never truly empty. Students continued to attend school with enthusiasm, driven by curiosity even in the face of severely limited facilities.
The challenges Ory faced extended beyond infrastructure. Early marriage was still a common practice among children of elementary school age. Some third-grade students were already being prepared by their parents for marriage. This situation compelled Ory to take a difficult but deeply committed stand as an educator.
For nearly two years, every Sunday after church service, Ory stood before the congregation and repeated the same message: “These children are building their future. Please give them time to learn and to choose their own path in life. This opportunity will not come again.” Gradually, this message began to resonate with parents, encouraging them to allow their children to stay in school longer, at least through junior secondary school.
After nearly eight years of service in the remote highlands, security conditions required all teachers to be withdrawn to urban areas. Ory was then transferred to Kenyam, the district capital, where she continued her service as an English teacher at SD Inpres Kenyam, Nduga. In this school, the challenges she faced took a different form. The curriculum had not been fully implemented, learning remained largely one-way, and many teachers were not yet accustomed to preparing lesson plans or managing digital report cards.
As her responsibilities grew, especially when she began mentoring fellow teachers, Ory recognized the need for tools that could support more structured lesson planning. She later joined the AI for Educators training program facilitated by Biji-Biji Initiative under the Microsoft Elevate program. At first, she was hesitant, as limited electricity and internet access were still part of daily life. However, the need to understand the changing landscape of education and to find better ways of learning ultimately encouraged her to try.
The training did not focus on technology merely as a tool, but on mindset and instructional design. Ory learned the fundamentals of artificial intelligence for educators, 21st-century learning approaches, and how to use AI responsibly to support the learning process. She also successfully completed the Microsoft Certified Educator certification exam.
Through this experience, Ory began introducing digital transformation into her classroom practice. In her daily work, she uses Microsoft Copilot as a thinking companion, helping her design lesson plans for two 35‑minute sessions, brainstorm creative learning activities, and simplify teaching materials so they better match with her students’ levels of understanding.
Over time, this approach yielded meaningful results. Students became more willing to speak up when explanations felt incomplete. They started seeking additional information on their own and relating classroom lessons to real‑life situations around them. Gradually, confidence, curiosity, and independent learning began to take shape.
Ory also extended this spirit of digital literacy to her fellow teachers, though responses were mixed. Some were hesitant to adopt technology, others were comfortable with traditional methods, while a few worried that technology would only increase their workload. Rather than forcing change, Ory chose to lead by example. She assisted in preparing Curriculum 2013 report cards for 16 classes, and gradually, the teachers began to gain confidence. For her consistency and commitment, in 2024 Ory was appointed Technology Ambassador for Papua Pegunungan Province by the Ministry of Education, recognizing her ability to apply technology contextually in the classroom and her dedication to supporting fellow teachers in adopting digital tools.
Ory believes that educational transformation must be supported by an ecosystem that allows teachers to continue growing. For this reason, she sees initiatives such as Microsoft Elevate as instrumental in expanding learning opportunities for educators across regions. “Change can begin with just one school. Teachers must be empowered first. From there, transformation can spread slowly, but consistently,” she explained. For Ory, education is a long‑term investment. In Eastern Indonesia, she begins that investment in the classroom, where future generations will one day carry forward Kartini’s spirit.
Leading Digital Transformation from Within Government
While Ory advances women’s rights through education, Sherlita does so through public policy and the use of technology for community empowerment, particularly for women. Data from the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection shows a gap in internet usage between men (72.07 percent) and women (66.35 percent), driven by limited access to information, economic opportunities, and persistent gender stereotypes [2].
This is the responsibility borne by Sherlita Ratna Dewi Agustin, Head of the Communications and Informatics Agency (Diskominfo) of East Java Province. On one hand, she leads the management of government IT infrastructure and technology governance. At the same time, she is accountable for public communication and government information services. “I have learned not to let stereotypes limit my steps. Instead, this position has become an opportunity to demonstrate that women’s perspectives in leadership bring real added value,” she said.
With this in mind, Sherlita envisions the use of technologies such as AI creating broader impact—beginning within the agency she leads. Through AI adoption, governments are expected to gain a more comprehensive view of data and formulate more precise, evidence‑based policies. This effort aligns with findings from PwC, which indicate that AI adoption in the public sector has the potential to increase administrative productivity by up to 3 percent, boost real GDP growth by as much as 4 percent, improve fiscal health by reducing deficits by up to 22 percent, and lower unemployment rates by as much as 1.5 percentage points [3].
Over time, Diskominfo identified a recurring challenge. While access to technology has become increasingly widespread, the readiness and confidence of civil servants to use it have lagged behind. Their understanding of ethics, security, and the relevance of technology (particularly AI) within the public sector is still perceived as complex. Without proper guidance and support, this gap risks causing technologies like AI to be underutilized or even avoided altogether.
This awareness led Sherlita to choose hands‑on learning through the GARUDA AI program, specifically the AI for Policy Lab for Leaders session organized by BINAR in collaboration with Microsoft Elevate. Through the AI Policy Lab for Leaders, the learning journey is structured in progressive stages. It begins with AI Fundamentals, designed to build a foundational understanding of AI concepts and their applications in the public sector. This is followed by Applied AI Tools, which focuses on the practical use of AI in day‑to‑day work. The final stage addresses Responsible AI, Governance, and Security Awareness, equipping participants with an understanding of ethical AI use, data governance, and security implications within government settings. This layered approach positions AI not as an instant solution, but as an integral part of responsible public decision‑making.
In her daily work, Sherlita has begun leveraging Microsoft Copilot for data analysis and report drafting to accelerate the extraction of insights from large datasets; for public communications, ensuring government messages are more structured and relevant across various channels; and for policy development, supporting early‑stage research and pattern recognition that are subsequently refined by her team. Throughout these processes, human review and judgment remain decisive, as policy decisions ultimately demand careful contextual understanding.
Within the East Java Provincial Government, AI adoption continues to be encouraged so it can reach a broader base of civil servants. Sherlita consistently emphasizes that AI is a support tool, not a replacement. By helping automate routine tasks, AI allows civil servants to focus more on responsibilities that demand human judgment, creativity, and empathy.
The GARUDA AI program plays a vital role in strengthening safe, responsible, and practical AI literacy among civil servants. The program is aligned with the East Java Provincial Communications and Informatics Agency’s digital capacity‑building initiative, Gerakan Cerdas Digital (Cerdig). Throughout 2025, approximately 1,113 civil servants from the East Java Provincial Government participated in the Cerdas Digital initiative, which offered a wide range of digital literacy and AI training programs. For Sherlita, the risk of failing to adapt is simply too great to ignore. Gaps between the quality of public services and citizens’ expectations could continue to widen, while bureaucratic inefficiencies risk becoming entrenched. Her greatest hope is that AI will serve as a foundation for a truly citizen‑centered government, one that is more responsive, more efficient, and more inclusive.
Nurturing Kartini’s Spirit in the Present Day
Through the Microsoft Elevate program, delivered in collaboration with partners including BINAR and the Biji‑Biji Initiative, Ory and Sherlita gained opportunities to reflect on how leadership, human readiness, and the responsible use of technology must advance together.
“Without Kartini’s struggle, women might not have progressed this far. It is through that struggle that women today can become agents of change. That is the spirit of Kartini I continue to carry forward, even through small steps,” Ory shared. Meanwhile, Sherlita interprets Kartini’s legacy as a courage to take responsibility on a broader scale. “Kartini Day reminds me that the struggle for equality and progress is never truly finished. At the same time, it affirms that women possess immense capacity to lead and to create meaningful impact.”
As part of these efforts, Microsoft also celebrated Kartini’s spirit through the Women at Microsoft (WAM) Indonesia event, held in conjunction with Kartini Day. On this occasion, Veronica Tan, Vice Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, was in attendance and underscored the importance of women’s roles in leading change in the digital era.
“If we stop speaking up about women’s equal right to dream and to realize those dreams, those opportunities may slip away. Anything men can aspire to, women can also achieve, as long as access and fairness are provided on equal terms.”
Echoing this sentiment, Sherly Tjoanda, Governor of North Maluku, emphasized the importance of women’s leadership at the regional level, supported by inclusive infrastructure and capacity-building initiatives, particularly in navigating digital transformation.
“Support from the central government and key stakeholders is essential. At the same time, inclusive training is equally important. Microsoft Copilot training for MSMEs and civil servants helps foster an understanding of AI as a practical tool to enhance capacity and competitiveness.”
“In the age of AI, leadership must evolve—not merely to manage tasks, but to articulate a vision that directs technology toward purposeful outcomes. Visionary leadership ensures AI is applied safely and responsibly, enabling teams to work with greater focus, higher productivity, and strong alignment with organizational direction,” said Arief Suseno, AI Skills Director at Microsoft Indonesia.
Let us continue to pass on Kartini’s legacy in the age of AI. Begin your learning and leadership journey with Microsoft Elevate at garuda.elevaite.id
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[1] Badan Pusat Statistik. (2026). Rata-rata lama sekolah (RLS) menurut jenis kelamin.
[2] Badan Pusat Statistik. (2023). Data statistik telekomunikasi Indonesia.
[3] PwC. (2025). AI works for governments: A digital sprinters report.