BL : Business Lounge
DN : Digital Nativ
MS : Miebi Sikoki
RS : Rocky Soerapoetra
In this age of technology and progress, people rely more and more on technology on an everyday basis. Big companies like Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and many others create hardware and software with complex design and high technology that exceeds our understanding, that helps progress ofhumanity…with a price. Digital Nativ, born in January 2014 by Miebi Sikoki and Rocky Soerapoetra, were here to answer our every question about technology regarding…is there a way to create a piece of technology that can satisfy, even our wildest imagination? Is there a platform to design and manifest the technology solutions we’ve been dreaming of? Is there a way, to actually understand the cold and calculated technology which we rely on ? Digital Nativ answers these questions. Referring themselves as a creative engineering company, they forge dreams into reality, transforming desire into objects, and shaping cold-hard machines into a cultured pieces of art.
Miebi Sikoki and Rocky Soerapoetra
BL : What is Digital Nativ, and what do you wish to promote with its platform ?
DN : Well first of all The name Digital Nativ was inspired by the fact that we were both born during the general introduction of digital technologies. Like video games and telecommunication, we grew up with the technology that become prevalent in the latter part of the 20th century and continues to evolve today. Things were different when we were growing up, we had “SMS” but it was a different kind, we wrote messages on little pieces of paper and passed them to the back of the classroom. Same results, just different technology.
Our goal as a company is to create technology solutions that celebrate what makes us human… those moments of magic you experience when you realize how technology is shaping the world around you and how can be part of that conversation.
BL : So, what does Digital Nativ offer ?
DN : We assist our clients in developing custom hardware solutions for a variety of applications. From furniture design to tech inspired products and gadgets, kinetic installations to home automation, we do it all. We are passionate about creating compelling, iconic and simply disruptive brand building tools that connect with users, regardless of category or industry.
BL : Most people nowadays perceive technology as something cold, rigid and calculated, how exactly is Digital Nativ going to overcome this perception ?
DN : Okay, remember the SMS thing we mentioned earlier? The same message transmitted in strikingly different ways. One, full of emotion and personality, while the other seems cold and mysterious because you don’t understand how it works. i think a lot of people see technology are something that is separate from us and when you believe you don’t understand something, you don’t even try.
We want to make hardware development sexy, accessible and unintimidating by focusing more on the experience rather than just the technology behind it. Another way to close the gap is to get more people interested in making stuff as a way of deepening understanding about how the world around us works.
small and compact overhead projectors, designed to create visual imagery
BL : So, can we assume that Digital Nativ is culturally-driven ?
DN : Yes, we are driven by curiosity. The world isn’t perfect, so How do we fix it? By understanding what’s going on… how do we do that? By paying attention and talking about it, that conversation is called culture.
BL : I’m sensing a lot of opportunity, but quite frankly, also a lot of risks, seeing this is a new breed of business, if i may say. Please tell the reader what are the opportunity and risks are.
DN : Well, where there is opportunity, there is always risk.
By empowering our client to create interesting applications from the technology we already have at our fingertips, we open the door to countless possibilities and who knows, we might even start a movement. A movement of makers, pushing boundaries across every part of the industry.
The risks for us are pretty obvious. keeping up with the pace of the tech industry where there is a never ending learning curve can be challenging. Sourcing parts for a project and keeping supply chains moving on time can mean the difference between success and failure.
Left : Images variation used in Jakarta Euphoria Project Event. Right : Images projected from the compact projector
BL : Now, do you consider yourself as an artist or businessmen ?
MS : Well, both of us play different roles here. I handle the creative and engineering aspects while Rocky takes care the business and financial part. I consider myself 80% artist and 20% businessmen.
RS : Well, I’m 30% artist and 70% businessmen (laugh)
BL : Seeing that both of you are also second-generation businessmen, do you prefer to continue your parent’s business or pursue your own passion ?
DN : Both of us prefer to follow our own passion, actually.
BL : What do you wish for Digital Nativ in the future ?
DN : People say the best way to predict the future is to create it right? We believe that in the process of making something, you visualize and internalize the process so deeply and imagine it so clearly, that when u actually execute it, it’s like seeing the future… and if you don’t like the future we’re building, better start building your own.