Gov’t to Accelerate GovTech Indonesia for Public Services
Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform Abdullah Azwar Anas delivers a press statement at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Tuesday (01/09). (Photo by: PR/Agung)
The Government is seeking to implement the transformation of government digital services to boost the integration of public services.
“Today, a plenary cabinet meeting was just held to discuss one of many things including a crucial issue on the acceleration of digital transformation and the improvement of government digital services integration through the establishment of GovTech Indonesia,” Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform Abdullah Azwar Anas said in a press statement at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Tuesday (01/09).
During the meeting, the Minister said, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo gave directives to his administration to enter a new era by implementing government technology (GovTech).
Anas also mentioned that Indonesia’s digital achievement in the E-Government Development Index (EGDI) has risen by 30 ranks, from 107th in 2018 to 77th in 2022.
“We already have good examples, including SatuSehat [mobile app], Merdeka Belajar platform, Pre-employment [card] platform, and others. But, these examples are not evently distributed as each ministry has different capabilities,” he said.
The President, he added, has also issued Presidential Regulation Number 82 of 2023 to accelerate digital progress and interoperability of existing systems in the Government in three ways. The three main pillars of the Presidential Regulation are strengthening governance through the involvement of coordinating ministries, ministries, and institutions; building the implementation ability of Government through GovTech; and focusing on priority digital services through integration and interoperability.
“So far, our service portals, be it in ministries, institutions, and regional governments, when we visit the portals, the contents are sometimes the photos of the director generals, the deputies, and the heads of agencies. In the future, we will change these so that people who visit the portals can immediately find the information on how they should apply their BPJS [insurance], on their childbirth process, on how to acquire scholarship,” he said.
Anas stated that there will be no new apps as the policy is to use the existing apps. This aims to avoid the complexity of using the current 27,000 apps. The President also ordered all regencies/municipalities to integrate hundreds of apps into one public service portal within three to four months.
As a concrete step, Ministry of Health has successfully integrated 400 community health center apps into one service portal. In addition, the Government is also focusing on creating a general app that will be integrated by the Electronic-based Government System (SPBE) team, involving Ministry of Communications and Informatics, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), and the National Cyber and Encryption Agency (BSSN).
The Minister underlined that the successful implementation of GovTech Indonesia will positively impact public services. The President, he added, also gave directives on eight steps to accelerate digital transformation including business process streamlining, data security, and the transformation of digital procurement policies.
For the record, the President has also set the official name of GovTech Inconesia, namely “INA Digital” or “Indonesia Digital.” (FID/ST) (FI/MMB)
