Donny Budhi Utoyo, known as Donny B.U., is a figure who has played a role in developing Indonesia's digital ecosystem and ecology. As a journalist, lecturer, and activist, Donny has made several contributions to various aspects of the digital world, especially in digital literacy advocacy and Internet governance.
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- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnybu/ (english)
- Wikipedia: https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donny_Budhi_Utoyo (bahasa Indonesia)
- Microsite: https://donnybu.id
Donny's leadership in the Internet Sehat (Cyber Wise) movement, along with his involvement in ICT Watch and the National Digital Literacy Movement Siberkreasi, has been instrumental in advocating for fair and inclusive policies in information technology. He is widely known as a digital activist and one of the prominent pioneers of the Internet Sehat movement, which he initiated in 2002.
Donny's educational background allows him to understand how media and technology interact with society, especially in Indonesia, which is culturally and geographically diverse. His formal education provides him with theoretical knowledge and trains him to think critically and analytically about social phenomena, including the development of information technology and its impact on society.
Donny's academic journey has equipped him with a deep understanding of the digital landscape. He graduated from Gunadarma University, majoring in Informatics Engineering in 1998, and continued his postgraduate studies at the University of Indonesia, graduating from the Communication Management program in 2002. His thesis, titled "Communication Patterns of Hacker Groups and Their Relationship to Hacking Activities: Case Study of Indonesian Hackers", reflects his early interest in the social aspects of information technology. He is pursuing a doctoral program in Rural Sociology at the Faculty of Human Ecology, Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB), with a concentration in Digitalization and Social Change.
In 2002, Donny and his colleagues took a significant step in digital rights advocacy by founding ICT Watch, a civil society organization that fights for freedom of expression on the Internet. This initiative and his continued efforts have led to significant recognition, including the Tasrif Award from the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) in 2004 and the World Information and the Information Society (WSIS) Award Winner in June 2017. Donny's role in founding ICT Watch is a testament to his dedication and significant contributions to digital rights advocacy.
His dedication to information technology and digital education has yet to escape international recognition. In 2010, Donny received the Fellow of Social Entrepreneur award from the Ashoka Foundation, Washington D.C., for his contribution to promoting freedom of information and digital responsibility in Indonesia.
From 2002 to 2015, Donny actively taught at some leading universities, such as Bina Nusantara University, Paramadina University, Stikom LSPR and Pelita Harapan University. The courses taught included Digital Media, e-Business Systems, Cyber Journalism, Cyber Public Relations, e-Corporation Management and Multimedia Communication.
Before diving deeper into advocacy and education, Donny began his career as a journalist at Detikcom. His experience as a journalist gave Donny deep insight into the dynamics of the country's digital media industry. He not only covered news but also witnessed the development of the internet in Indonesia from its inception to becoming an integral part of people's daily lives.
Donny joined Detikcom as an information technology journalist in December 1999. He then served as Managing Editor in December 2004, Portal Division Manager in December 2007, and Vice President Publisher Group in October 2008 until his resignation in June 2010.
His passion for writing has not faded. He remains active as part of a team of writers or editors of several books or training modules related to digital literacy. He is also the executive producer of several documentaries about the Internet in Indonesia produced by ICT Watch.
He is currently studying the issue of artificial intelligence (AI) governance by writing opinion pieces in online media, voicing Indonesia's interests in global forums, and speaking in some podcasts or webinars.
Throughout his career, Donny has been involved in research on freedom of expression and the right to information in the digital world. His work involves collaboration with international institutions such as the OpenNet Initiative and IDRC Canada, resulting in a comprehensive article for the Indonesian chapter in the 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 editions of the Digital Review Asia Pacific book. Donny is also listed as a Cyber Steward Network Partner at the Citizen Lab, University of Toronto, which often advocates for transparency, accountability, equality and inclusivity in global Internet governance. Until now, he has also been active in several international forums, including as a representative of Indonesia at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
Donny's current position at ICT Watch is as a senior advisor, and he has been assisting the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo) as an expert since April 2017 to provide advice and input on policy issues in the field of digital literacy. Still related to digital literacy, he is also trusted as the General Chair of the SIBERKREASI National Digital Literacy Movement since December 2022, the result of an agreement of no less than 110 multi-stakeholder network entities/institutions/organisations in Indonesia.
