Sofiarti Dyah Anggunia, System Analyst, West Kalimantan Provincial Government, Indonesia
Oleh Chia Jie Lin
Women in GovTech 2018 Special Report.
I am part of the Communication and Informatics Agency whose main role is to be a technology enabler to support both government administration tasks as well as public services. As a System Analyst, I am working on analysing and designing information systems and technologies that need to be developed and implemented within the government.
As part of technical team, my team and I develop local government official websites to deliver local development information to citizens. We also provide information and gather public opinion through the website. To maintain government tasks, we build, manage and support e-administration applications including e-planning, e-budgeting, e-procurement, e-performance and other tools for employees such as official emails, subdomain, hosting and cloud storage.
In terms of delivering technology for public services, we work on configuring public service information systems including the use of online single submission systems.
What has been the most exciting thing that you worked on in 2018?
Data and system integration across agencies. Data inconsistencies and multiple data inputs into different systems have been huge problems in local governments. A communication tool for data interoperability between systems needs to be developed.
Fortunately, an application called MANTRA has been developed by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. It is a bridge between systems, allowing each system to produce the data needed by another systems. This data is generated in interoperable web services format, including JSON, API, and XML.
By connecting data among agencies, an employee doesn’t need to enter the same information into different systems. This reduces the problems of data redundancy and duplication and increases our work efficiency.
I have applied this system integration in 2018 by introducing its use to 45 agencies and conducted pilot projects for four information systems so far, including e-planning, e-budgeting, e-procurement, and the human resources system. This system integration is part of the West Kalimantan Provincial Government Action Plan to reduce corruption in collaboration with Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
If you were to share one piece of advice that you learned in 2018, what would it be?
Engagement with all stakeholders’ needs is an important thing. I deal not only with software and network engineers, but also with end-users and policy makers. Listen to each person carefully, then analyse and combine it to propose the best solution. After your hard work, if the result doesn’t always meet your expectations, just be patient, your time will come.
What tool or technique particularly interests you for 2019?
Since I am working with systems and data, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data would be my next concern. AI, particularly deep learning, can be used to support data-driven public policy by analysing big data from government and other sources. Deep learning and neural network tools interest me the most.
What are your priorities for 2019?
First, I will implement data integration in broader scope with more systems and more agencies. I will support the system integration in other local governments, specifically 14 districts in the West Kalimantan Province.
Second, it will time to foster the use of public service information systems comprehensively, after configuring them this year.
Third, we will focus on collecting good quality data in order to support West Kalimantan Open Data that already launched at the end of this year.
What is one skill that has helped you the most throughout the course of your career?
Communication skills. The great capabilities of brain cannot always work without good personality. Being kind and polite is my key to communicating with others, to influence and work with them.
What advancements do you predict will happen in your field in the next ten years?
AI for development, that is now already happening in most developed and developing countries. It is at an early stage in my place now, but it might arise in the next two or three years from now that AI will be used optimally in government and public policies. Hence, we need to maximise its potential use by planning for AI. Moreover, we also need to consider the rise of a super intelligence since AI’s use might be misaligned.
Coffee, yoga, music… what powers you through your day?
A cup of tea every morning can always cheer up my days. I love Javanese Tea, usually with the scent of jasmine. English Breakfast Tea ranks 2nd of my favorite tea. Lastly, Korean Green Tea would be my next favourite.