President Jokowi launches GovTech Indonesia, INA Digital, to transform Indonesia public services

President Joko Widodo has launched GovTech Indonesia named INA Digital, at the SPBE Summit 2024 at the State Palace, Jakarta, 27 May 2024. The new agency aims to accelerate the government’s digital transformation process and the integration of digital services in Indonesia.  

In his remarks, President Jokowi said it is necessary to simplify thousands of digital applications in the bureaucracy to make public services more efficient and improve people's lives.  

The president has instructed all agencies to comply with a recent regulation on the integration of digital services by no longer developing public service applications that are not integrated with INA Digital. This will reduce duplicated efforts and simplify digital government services for Indonesian residents. 

"In the early stages, the migration process is not easy. But the most important thing is that we have started. Keep refining and keep improving," the President said. 

"Bureaucracy should serve people, not complicate things for them. But how can bureaucracy bring convenience if we have 27,000 applications that work independently?" Jokowi said.

Jokowi said that agencies have requested IDR6 trillion (USD400 million) of the government’s 2024 budget to create new applications and platforms this year alone. 

"When a new application is launched, we download it again, install it again, then enter the data again. It's complicated. This must be stopped."  

DPI as a ‘toll road’ for public services 

President Jokowi underlined the importance for the country to improve its digital public infrastructure (DPI) capabilities, which consist of digital ID, digital payment and data exchange. 

"To improve Indonesia's competitiveness, we must strengthen DPI as a toll road for the digitalisation of public services," Jokowi said.  

The President has instructed all leaders of state institutions to work together and shift to a new mindset so that the goal of digitising public services goes according to plan. 

"Every ministry, agency and local government must integrate and interoperate their data. No more data is partitioned, no one can feel that the data they have is their own. We will not move forward with egocentrism, let's abandon old practices and mindsets," Jokowi continued. 

At the same event, Minister for Administrative Reform and Bureaucratic Reform (PANRB) Abdullah Azwar Anas emphasised the importance of digital ID as a single sign on for public services that every country must have. 

"India's development target of 47 years has been reduced to seven years. Why? Its DPI works together," said Anas. 

GovInsider has previously reported on the role of digital public infrastructure in driving advancements in India, Bangladesh, and Estonia. 

All public services in one portal 

The minister said that INA Digital will begin work to continue the integration process for digital government services into one public service portal, also named INA Digital, by September.  

"We will carve out a new history where all digital services will be integrated, easy to access and not government-centric but citizen-centric,” said Anas.  

Besides integrating DPI, INA Digital will provide various essential public services. These include education services (basic education and college assistance), healthcare services (immunisations, medicine, and doctor's registration letters), social assistance, digital payments, police services (driving licence, crowd/concert permit), and state apparatus services (SmartASN). 

INA Digital will also gradually integrate other public services managed by ministries and other agencies not included in the 9 essential services, such as passport services handled by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. 

To access INA Digital, people must first log in using ID credentials. Then there will be biometric verification via cellphone, laptop or computer camera. 

INA Digital is a unit under Peruri, a state-owned company which operates in the fields of money printing, document authenticity and digital security.  

INA Digital comprises of technology experts and practitioners who are experienced in digital projects in ministries and agencies. This organization has recruited more than 300 people to carry out GovTech Indonesia's mission. 

This article was originally published in Bahasa Indonesia.