Derina Jayanthi, Citizen Complaint Analyst, Jakarta Smart City, Indonesia
By Medha Basu
Women in GovTech 2018 Special Report.
I'm working as a citizen complaints analyst in Jakarta Smart City. My life is probably always connected with our citizens in Jakarta, especially to solve every problem that they face.
Mainly, we use a technology called citizen relations management. We developed our own system here, so we can use it internally, making it easier for us to connect with people. When they have complaints, we analyse it before it is sent to other agencies in Jakarta to be solved.
It's really exciting when we connect with people, like when they have a problem near their neighbourhood. We look on the digital maps to make it sure the location of the problems is accurate and then we tell them the solutions. And even if it's a hard one, we should really verify everything, and then send it to the related agencies to get it resolved. So for me, it's really nice to help them outside this office.
What has been the most exciting thing that you worked on in 2018?
Being part of the Jakarta Smart City team is one of the best privileges for me this year. I've been working here for almost three years and it’s been amazing. Helping people is my life’s passion and being useful for citizens is something that I can say is the biggest gift in my life.
The big project that I've been on this year is being part of the citizen relations management project. It was developed last year but the implementation is going on this year. We socialise this system to our internal agencies all around Jakarta. It's been very exciting for us, but also all of the team here, because we can share our system with them and make it easier for them to connect with people.
So the biggest happiness for me is when we solve the problems that our citizens face. We give them a number to track their complaint, and when it's done, the notifications turn green from red.
The other exciting moment is when they give us the feedback like, “Thank you very much, my report has been solved”. I'm so happy that the government can take care of their problems. Because I think that's the most important thing: we can gain their trust in the government itself. When they believe in us, that's one of the biggest motivations for us to improve and to sustain everything to make the city even better.
If you were to share one piece of advice that you learned in 2018, what would it be?
Well, being kind to everyone, because I believe that goodness will come in return. Always be useful and helpful to others because it has an impact on their trust in you. So, it means that when we give them our help, it means they will trust us even more.
And it's really important to the work in government when we help our people, so they can be less sceptical about the government.
What tool or technique particularly interests you for 2019?
To work with our citizen relations management system and maximise it, by using it more efficiently. Right now, that's our concern because that's a big project for us.
Another side of the citizen relations management, we are developing JaKi - Jakarta Kini - an informative application for people. They will be able to submit their reports to the application and access any information on Jakarta. Instead of opening our portal - smartcity.jakarta.go.id - you will just need to download it on the App Store or Play Store to get information from it. That is now in progress.
What are your priorities for 2019?
Helping people, especially in Jakarta, because this is one of the biggest cities in Indonesia, and it plays a big role in the country. Maybe, it can give good inspiration to other cities to improve as well. That's why I work with the government to help other people.
What is one skill that has helped you the most throughout the course of your career?
People say that I have a good skill at speaking, and I use this skill to give people information, especially related to Jakarta, and also diplomatically negotiate with people.
I help the communications division in my office to socialise Jakarta Smart City to other people, especially when there are plenty of guests coming. I am a representative from Jakarta Smart City to give them information not only about our internal office, but also throughout the Jakarta government.
What advancements do you predict will happen in your field in the next ten years?
In 10 years, I can say that there will be issues and plenty of challenges for us in the city. I believe that the economy will grow rapidly, and then people will compete with each other for living, and the the development of technology will have an impact on citizens living here.
I believe that there will be massive urbanisation because of the growth of economy in the city. The government should prepare for that and should also talk to other governments outside Jakarta to improve opportunities and chances for people, for example, in West Java and Central Java. It's about giving people the opportunities in their own to live in and improve their own city, instead of migrating to another city like Jakarta in search of jobs.
Coffee, yoga, music… what powers you through your day?
My family, my friends. They really mean a lot to me. When I wake up in the morning, and I start my day, I think about my family and friends. I always keep this in mind because I believe they need me to be the person that I want to be. They're my support system actually. I have a lot of people who love me; it gives me a good vibe to start the day. They are people that I always look out for.