Sofiarti Dyah Anggunia, System Analyst, West Kalimantan Provincial Government, Indonesia

By Medha Basu

Women in GovTech Special Report 2019.

How do you use technology/policy to improve citizens’ lives? Tell us about your role or organisation.

I am working in Informatics and Communication Agency of West Kalimantan Provincial Government. As the Head of Application Section at Informatics Application Division, applying the latest information technologies to empower citizens as well as to achieve government goals is my main task.

During 2019, we are working a lot on collecting, using, promoting and introducing The West Kalimantan Open Data Initiatives (Open Data Kalbar). On 3 December 2018, Governor and Mayors of cities and districts in West Kalimantan Province has declared the Open Data Initiatives.

This declaration is then followed by the launch of West Kalimantan Open Data Portal at 4 March 2019 as a form of participation in the World Open Data Day. Seven months later, the Governor launched West Kalimantan Data Analytics Room. It is a room to show development data for planning and policy making. It is also can be used by citizens to gain information and results of government data analysis.

What has been the most exciting thing that you worked on in 2019?

The year of 2019 is the busiest year in my working life. Beside focusing on Kalbar Open Data, we also ran a project to support telecommunication and ICT infrastructures in rural areas - we call it “Digital Villages”. We provided internet connection in 20 remote villages and develop 50 village websites to improve the use of technology in rural areas.

We are also working on data integration between applications and facilitating a wide area network among agencies in the West Kalimantan Provincial Government. Furthermore, our jobs are appreciated by Des Moines Chief Information Officer that visited our office in early October this year. Even in Des Moines, Iowa, they don’t have a command centre, so they asked many things about the use of Kalbar Data Analytics Room.

I talked much with Anna Whipple, the Iowa CIO. Particularly, we shared our experiences of IT management and applications that exist in our places.

What is the best thing you have experienced in your career?

It is since 8 February that I’ve got a new position as the Head of the Application Section. Actually, it is quite a challenging position for me since I’ve got more tasks to do, more responsibilities and more staff that I have to care about.

Fortunately, I have the best working team ever! They support me a lot in terms of job completion as well as working situation. They are fun and always cheer me up when I feel bad. Good people in a good working situation.

If you were to share one piece of advice that you learned in 2019, what would it be?

Collaboration and focus on your goals. During last year, I work with many people, both from local government itself and private sectors as well as communities. In September, I have an opportunity to become a jury at the security software competition.

Surprisingly, there are many communities in West Kalimantan who join this programme with different technologies and methods they offer. Furthermore, at 19 November, we collaborate with Beritagar.id, the popular online news based on data in Indonesia.

We held the first Indonesia Lokadata Conference (ILOC) Roadshow in Indonesia, after they held Nasional ILOC in Jakarta on late August 2019. We invited government agencies, academics, private sectors, journalists, and the public to promote the use of data in our daily lives. However, how hard you work, you have to keep the goals in your mind. Afterward, good results will come to you.

What tool or technique particularly interests you for 2020?

I have to learn much on data analysis tools, for example Tableau or Fluorish, instead of Excel only. I already got Google Studio and database management system such as MySQL, but I need to upgrade knowledge of the other tools.

Then, I should learn about datawarehousing in terms of data integration to maximise my capabilities on structuring database with entity relational diagram. And also, I am still doing system analysis with the Balsamiq Mockup Software, but still in basic knowledge. Next, of course Data Science and the use of Artificial Intelligence interests me the most.

What are your priorities for 2020?

Continuing what I have done in 2019, my priorities for 2020 would be about promoting the use of data especially for people and other parties. Then I have to keep going on data integration since it is one of the national priorities in order to prevent corruption. Subsequently, I’ll implement an electronic or paperless office.

What is one challenge you would like to take on in 2020?

The most challenging thing that I might face (most likely) in 2020 is dealing with people’s behaviour. Implement technology means reengineering old processes. Some behaviour should also be changed. It doesn’t matter how new technology we used, but the most challenging part is how to survive this technologies or applications to be used by people or government officers.

What has been your fondest memory from the past year?

I love travelling. The most fantastic place I visit in 2019 is hiking at Mt. Prau. It is located in West Java, 1.5 hours by plane from West Kalimantan. I went there with my friends when I was studying in Manchester.

It is my first time doing hiking at night in rainy days. At first I don’t think I can reach the top, but then I did it at the morning after a night I’ve spent in a tent. I’ve got a flu on the top since it was a bit cold, but the very fantastic view releasing my pain. A beautiful scenery with the best friends were the great memories that will always stay in my head and my heart.

And the other times when I feel I’ll fail, I just have to remember how I can reach the top of the mountain after several times I almost fell to the ground because of wet land. And, you know what, actually I fear of heights, but I love hills & mountains. It wouldn’t stop me. So, just keep doing! ^^