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Review | Applied Innovation for Community Development | Volume 1 - Issue 1 - 2026 | 50−62 |
© 2026 by the author(s), and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License

Innovation in Addressing Youth Unemployment in Developing Countries: Evidence and Pathways from Indonesia

Author(s): Ayu Ratna Wibowo , Satria Kusuma Pratama
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Universitas Sembilanbelas November, Kolaka, Jl. Pemuda No.339, Tahoa, Sulawesi Tenggara 93561, Indonesia

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Applied Innovation for Community Development

Volume 1 - Issue 1 - 2026

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Youth unemployment remains one of the most persistent development challenges facing low- and middle-income countries, and Indonesia, home to one of the world's largest youth populations, illustrates both the scale of the problem and the range of innovation-based responses being tested to address it. This review synthesizes peer-reviewed evidence on how digital technology, vocational and educational innovation, entrepreneurship ecosystems, and policy instruments have been mobilized to reduce youth joblessness in developing-country contexts, with Indonesia as the primary reference case. Drawing on 25 journal publications, the review organizes findings around four innovation pathways: (1) digital and technology-driven innovation, including platform work, e-commerce, and financial technology; (2) skills development and vocational innovation, including technical and vocational education and training (TVET) reform and government-sponsored digital skilling; (3) entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems, including youth digital entrepreneurship and business incubation; and (4) policy and institutional support mechanisms. The review finds that innovation-based interventions generate measurable, though uneven and often short-run, improvements in youth labour-market outcomes, and that their effectiveness is conditioned by structural factors such as the rural-urban digital divide, gender disparities, and the quality of institutional coordination. The review concludes with policy implications and a research agenda for strengthening the evidence base on innovation-driven youth employment strategies in developing countries.

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SUBMITTED: 08 August 2026
ACCEPTED: 14 September 2026
PUBLISHED: 17 September 2026
SUBMITTED to ACCEPTED: 38 days

Cite this article
Wibowo, A. R. ., & Pratama, S. K. . (2026). Innovation in Addressing Youth Unemployment in Developing Countries: Evidence and Pathways from Indonesia. Applied Innovation for Community Development, 1(1), 50−62. Retrieved from https://tecnoscientifica.com/journal/aicd/article/view/1329
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