Biondi Sima’s passions are to espouse digital, development and diplomacy as well as to leverage these concepts to narrow inequality and empower youth. He is currently working as a digital government consultant at the World Bank and is also an international relations lecturer at Hasanuddin University. Biondi previously led the implementation arm of the West Java Governor’s digital unit, Jabar Digital Service. Here, he designed the Digital Village program, supervised the crisis center and played a leadership role for the tech and data driven policy intervention for the West Java COVID-19 task force. Biondi holds double master’s on economic policy and sustainable edvelopment from SciencesPo Paris and Peking University Beijing. Born and raised in Palu, Biondi founded the Palu Produktif to build a cohort of young people in his hometown who fell victim to frequent disaster events such as the tsunami and liquefaction in 2018. 

IVLP Impact Award Project: Palu Produktif

Human capital plays a central role in advancing the development of a city or a country. Unfortunately, in the case of Palu, Indonesia, the effort to improve the quality of its human resources is often compromised by routine natural disasters, uneven access to quality education and a less competitive environment. The COVID-19 pandemic further accentuated this void and caused major setbacks to Palu's disaster recovery and economic growth. In 2021, the World Bank indicated that half of the Indonesian population suffered from reduced productive workhours and income in the last year and a half. Over five million workers lost their jobs over factory closures, disease transmissions, and limited physical activities during the partial lockdown period.

Palu Produktif was a capacity development program for youths from Palu that aimed to improve the local talent quality with transferable skills so that they could become competitive and resilient. The program championed a three-pronged objective of equipping local talent with competitive skillsets that are rarely taught in formal education, building well-networked agents of change for strengthened collaboration, and improving the city's resilience as well as redressing lost opportunities from natural disasters and the pandemic. This project engaged 430 people in total, including 30 partner organizations, 10 volunteers, 13 mentors and 7 speakers. Most participants were between 17 and 30 years old, and the project consisted of 6 online modules, 2 virtual activities and 1 in-person event. Participants learned about topics ranging from financial and digital literacy to resilience and disaster management. Lastly, there was a constant social media engagement in collaboration with local government, and a total of 16,029 Instagram accounts were reached to promote the program.

"It is critical to deepen my understanding in data [and] digital literacy so that I can adapt [and] advance in the professional world." - Workshop Participant

IVLP Exchange Experience 

Biondi was a participant in the IVLP Project: Social Influencers for Social Good, organized by the U.S. Department of State and Meridian International Center.

Biondi's exchange experience led to the development of his IVLP Impact Award Project: "I am grateful to be a part of a supportive community. My participation in IVLP has truly transformed the way I perceive social media in mobilizing a community and creating impact for good. The impact award will enable our community to double down on our outreach and impact."

U.S. Communities Visited Virtually

Los Angeles, CA; Colorado Springs, CO; Washington, DC; San Antonio, TX

Country: Indonesia

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