West Java encourages digitalisation of public services through Sapawarga app

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Indonesia’s West Java province's flagship platform Sapawarga allows citizens to pay taxes and book travel tickets or tourist attraction tickets online through digital payments linked to Bank BJB (West Java's provincial government bank).

The Sapawarga platform was developed by Jabar Digital Service, a technology unit under the West Java Provincial Government, specifically tasked with designing and developing public service applications utilising data and the latest technologies. The app has now been downloaded 3.6 million times. 

West Java Province's Head of Communication and Informatics, Ika Mardiah, tells GovInsider that the Sapawarga app is a key part of the digitalisation journey of Indonesia's most populous province, which is trying to leverage digital platforms to deliver better public services to citizens.  

She notes that during the pandemic, Sapawarga successfully reduced queues at physical government kiosks. 

"Initially, Sapawarga was developed to serve citizens who want to pay motor vehicle taxes, but now its features have been developed to buy tourist tickets, and even access basic services such as health, education, or population administration," says Ika.

With a population of 48 million by 2023 and as one of the provinces with the most tourist inflows and destinations, "digitalisation is a must for faster and more efficient public services", Ika says.  

Sapawarga has now also been equipped with a text to voice feature that makes it easier for users with disabilities to access various services in the application.   

"We expect Sapawarga to be used by 10 million users next year, but we will still focus on those who are underserved such as disabilities and senior citizens." 

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Developing its own X-Road  

Ika shared that Jabar Digital Service is currently developing a data exchange platform within the scope of West Java Province called Jabar X-Road, which enables wider data interoperability, including with private players and government agencies outside West Java Province.

The government developed their own version of X-Road by studying the success of X-Road in Estonia and through models learnt from books and scientific research, as well as conducting a series of comparative studies, she says.  

Estonia’s X-Road is an open-source data exchange platform that enables secure exchange between public and private sector players and has been adopted by over 20 countries, GovInsider reported previously. 

"Learning and researching are the main keys to innovation amid our very limited budget posture. I always direct my friends [at Jabar Digital Services] to innovate without creating new budget lines," Ika continues. 

The development of the data exchange platform is in response to requests from non-government economic actors who are interested in joining the Sapawarga ecosystem.  

Currently, Bank BJB has been onboarded into the platform to facilitate citizens' tax payments. In the future, they may expand this opportunity to private financial service providers as well. 

When it comes to data security, Ika explains that the platform uses blockchain technology that allows data to be managed securely and transparently. "Data security is our concern given the recent incident at the central government's National Data Centre," Ika adds. 

In June, a cyberattack on Indonesia’s national data centres led to key government services being disrupted, GovInsider reported previously. 

Leveraging the cloud to support digitisation 

West Java Province uses the cloud to store data and develop digital government platforms such as Sapawarga and Jabar X-Road. Since 2019, West Java has had its own cloud infrastructure called Jabar Cloud, which is managed by the West Java Communication and Informatics Agency.  

According to Ika, the cloud has improved efficiency and security assurance, and provided the agility needed to develop applications that have a positive impact on people's lives.  

The West Java Provincial Government also uses the cloud as a means of storing data that is shared by other government agencies in West Java.  

Ika says that one of the challenges West Java Province faced in adopting the cloud was the limited budget and cross-agency issues, where certain agency leaders were less committed to data security protocols in accordance with government regulations.    

"Many times, we [Jabar Digital Service] provide technical assistance to certain agencies and train their teams to be more adept at using the cloud. The workload does increase, but we want all agencies in West Java to move forward together."

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AI helps data-driven policy making  

West Java Province is encouraging the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by the public sector for data-driven policy making, data processing, and improving public service delivery.

The Jabar Command Centre has a dashboard that can be used by top officials to monitor performance and address real problems in society such as malnutrition, the spread of disease or traffic congestion.  

As an example of handling malnutrition, through this dashboard, agencies can find out where the location with the highest stunting rate is, what causes it, and what steps must be taken to overcome this problem immediately.   

West Java province has also developed an AI model that can recommend future career paths for a student based on their skills.  

The AI algorithm will intelligently analyse the data, read patterns and provide the right recommendations for them. Currently the pilot project is being implemented in Sumedang City, West Java.  

Ika sees technology as essential for better public services. However, its main asset lies in the people who use it. The West Java Provincial Government wants to ensure that technology users can use these tools for good purposes and ensure their safety.