Three Indonesian e-government projects to watch

Indonesian President Joko Widodo came into office last year with a promise to improve public services through e-government systems.

He has a record of doing so both as Jakarta Governor, and the Mayor of Solo before that. GovInsider spoke to Dana Sensuse, Head of E-government Lab at Universitas Indonesia, about three noteworthy e-government projects across federal and local governments.

Here is his selection:

1. E-procurement (Sistem Pengadaan Secara Elektronik)

Indonesia’s online procurement system allows agencies across ministries, provinces and cities to track their expenses. The project is significant because it can be used across all three levels of government, allowing agencies to share financial data, Sensuse said.

“Until now there has been no other system that can be used nationally by every government agency, whether it is central, provincial or local agencies.” The system was introduced in 2008, and by 2012 it had helped the government save 10.89% of its expenses, according to the National Public Procurement Agency. Agencies can compare costs and renegotiate where they find that others have gotten better deals.

However, not all agencies are using e-procurement yet. The government could save up to 30% of its total budget if every agency used the system, President Widodo has said.

2. Jakarta’s Qlue and Crop apps

Jakarta introduced two apps last year to help citizens complain about public services, which Sensuse praises as leading projects. Qlue allows citizens to submit geo-tagged complaints and photos to the city government, updating them when they get a response.

A new feature lets commuters report on their public bus rides. Qlue is paired with the Crop app, which is meant to be used by every frontline official in Jakarta. The app gives officials updates about citizens’ complaints and monitors their location. The official nearest to the location of the complaint is then automatically asked to respond.

The project is “a good achievement” by the Jakarta government, Sensuse said. Qlue has been downloaded on more than 80,000 devices since December.

3. Lapor

Another final to watch is the government’s online complaints service, he said. Citizens can text and tweet complaints about any federal public service to Lapor, which will direct them to the right government agency.

The project by the Office of Presidential Staff is “considered a success story, but it is not yet adopted by many government agencies”, Sensuse noted.

While all central government ministries use the service, only six out of over 500 local governments use it, the Lapor team has told GovInsider. The team has a mandate to reach every government agency in the country by 2019.

Top image from President Joko Widodo's Facebook page.