Zoho has announced the renewal and expansion of its Young Creator program with the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh, Nopember (ITS) in Surabaya, Indonesia. This year sees the integration of a module around the Zoho low-code/no-code solution, Zoho Creator into the curriculum. Zoho will train the lecturers on Zoho Creator, enabling them to use the tool as part of the course.
The Young Creator program is a global initiative that aims to empower non-programmers to create business applications without the need for programming knowledge. The aim is to empower businesses in the local community to create solutions that optimise their business processes and create new market opportunities.
The announcement also aligns with the Indonesian Government’s efforts to equip 15-30-year-olds with the digital skills needed for the future. The Indonesia Emas 2045 Vision aims to create a country that is resilient, prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable. Education is a core component to enable the prosperity pillar. And will enable the next generation to have the tools to tackle business challenges and opportunities. Thus supporting the growth of SME businesses. Zoho also aims to bring accessibility to its low-code platform to a wider market with a low entry cost and training through the education system.
Dr.oec.HSG Syarifa Hanoum, S.T., M.T., Head, Department of Business Management, ITS, commented, “The robust partnership that has been cultivated between ITS and ZOHO Global Corporation is something we deeply value. The successful implementation of initiatives like the Young Creator Program has inspired our students to innovate and embrace digitalization in business without the need for extensive coding knowledge.
“In addition, the Training of Trainers program has equipped our lecturers to become better educators, capable of spreading digital literacy to a wider audience. This collaboration also extends beyond ITS students and faculty. Reaching out to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to help them adopt digital tools and advance their businesses. Overall, this collaboration has not only empowered our students and lecturers but has also made significant contributions to the broader community.”
Bigger and Better
The Zoho announcement included that a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by Zoho and by ITS University President Bambang Pramujati. It is the first time that Zoho Creator has been part of a University curriculum at a higher education institute.
As part of this first year, 70 students will have access to the module, but Zoho will also train 40 lecturers so that a larger number of cohorts in the future can benefit from the LCNC module. In addition, ITS will host sessions to raise awareness of LCNC solutions to local SMEs. Sixty people attended the first of these sessions, and the expectation is that this will increase accessibility to Zoho Creator for the wider business community.
The program is a three-day session for lecturers, followed by another three-day session for students. The course gave hands-on experience and taught them how to use Zoho Creator components, including:
- form creation
- relational databases
- reports
- dashboards
The sessions also included lessons on some of the more advanced features, such as:
- Deluge scripting
- AI integration
- Custom functions
Attendees also learned about the 600 integrations that Zoho Creator supports and how Creator users can take advantage of them. The course aimed to provide the knowledge needed to design, develop, and manage fully functional business applications.
Handito Aji Saroso, Country Lead, Zoho Indonesia, commented, “With the success of our collaboration throughout last year, I’m pleased that this year we can have a deeper and tighter collaboration with Insititut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember Surabaya. With a broader program in 2024, we are excited to be the first to build Zoho Creator into the curriculum for an institute of higher education.
“With this collaboration, we hope to close the gap between the academic curriculum and real-world business needs. By adding our best practices and experience to the curriculum, we seek to make a lasting impact on the local talent pool and bring benefits to the business community. Together, we aim to empower the next generation of digital talent and bring functional skills to the local workforce that will effect real change to the business landscape.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
Zoho continues to deepen its relationships with educational institutions worldwide. Last year, it announced the hosting of the Young Creators program at Nottingham Trent University. Earlier this year, it revealed a new initiative in partnership with the Open University. Which saw it integrate Zoho Books into the curriculum for finance students.
If this announcement is an indicator, expect Zoho to make more partnerships Worldwide. One of those might be the University of Nottingham, where it already hosted the YCP last year. Zoho intends to spread the use of Zoho Creator and embed it within the curriculum elsewhere. While there is a cost of doing this, Zoho will hope that a few students will go on to build their business around Zoho Creator. Or will at least look to the solution to help solve business process challenges where they work in the future.
