Will President Prabowo prove to be a digital messiah for Indonesia?

In the aftermath of Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s victory in Indonesia’s 2024 presidential and vice-presidential election respectively, many believe there would be no fundamental changes in Indonesia’s digital policies, as Prabowo has always called himself President Jokowi's successor and has stated that he will continue Jokowi's policy. 

The fact that Prabowo is willing to continue with Jokowi's agenda is reflected in his decision to retain ministry leaders who have played a central role in Indonesia's digital transformation journey. One of them is Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin who successfully transformed Indonesia's healthcare sector.  

The other major retention is Minister of State Apparatus and Bureaucratic Reform (PANRB) Rini Widyantini - promoted from Secretary General of the PANRB Ministry. Widyantini, along with former minister Abdullah Azwar Anas, played a significant role in the establishment of the digital government system and fostered the birth of GovTech Indonesia.  

In his inaugural speech as President of the Republic of Indonesia on October 20, Prabowo asserted that digitalisation is one way “to prevent corruption” and improve the economic status of citizens.

“With digital technology, we will be able to deliver the subsidies to every family in need. It is not acceptable for the aid to not reach those in need,” he said. 

In the Asta Cita (Asta Cita: the Eight Quick-win Programmes) document, or Prabowo-Gibran's eight missions, it is stated that digitalisation is key to "transparent, efficient and inclusive governance." Therefore, "state investment that supports education, science, technology and digitalisation is a must."   

Those bold statements indicate where Prabowo's digital policy is heading. If there’s any room for doubt, it’s how Prabowo will ensure the government’s technology journey continues amidst stagnant economic growth and his politics of populist budgeting.  

Prabowo's signature programme, free nutritious meals for students to prevent malnutrition, kickstarted on January 6 with a budget of IDR71 trillion (S$5.97 billion) per year, according to the National Nutrition Agency (BGN). This ambitious programme is Prabowo's attempt to meet his campaign promises and gain legitimacy in his first year in office.   

However, there is worry that this huge budget allocation for the programme, will have a major impact on government spending and would affect the quality of public services. It remains to be seen how Prabowo juggles finances to keep both his populist as well as digital policies are implemented.  

To subscribe to the GovInsider bulletin click here.

Digitalisation to support Prabowo's quick-win programmes 

Former President Jokowi has left a significant legacy in digitalisation. He created a digital government framework (SPBE) that serves as the foundation for digitalisation.

The framework is currently being used by the central and local governments, and covers topics such as data governance regulations, digitising government transactions and procurement, as well as the creation of Indonesia’s GovTech, INA Digital, as an implementer of national digital service integration.  

Prabowo can build on these milestones to pave the way for his key programmes in Asta Cita. Four of the eight require digital technology support, including free nutritious meals, free medical check-ups, cash transfers for poor families and education scholarships.  

The free nutritious meals programme will use multi-sectoral data and artificial intelligence (AI) analysis to determine target recipients and prevent funds from going to the wrong places, said Chief of BGN, Dadan Hindayana, CNN previously reported. In the future, beneficiaries will include pregnant women, so the programme will utilise real-time health data.

Next is the free health check-ups at all primary healthcare facilities with a focus on tuberculosis detection. The government will use the electronic medical record platform, SATUSEHAT Mobile, in the registration process. The programme will also encourage more people to onboard digital health services.  

Cash assistance and education grants will be disbursed to recipients through government banks after an identity verification process. Accurate and up-to-date data is required to ensure transparency and accountability of these programmes. 

Through INA Digital – the new GovTech agency which aims to simplify government digital services – these quick-win programmes could create impact more quickly, if coordination and communication between the state agencies run smoothly.  

It is important to ensure that Indonesia’s digital public infrastructure (DPI) project consisting of digital ID, digital payment, and data exchange continues to evolve and remain focused. DPI will improve people's access to the country's development programmes – not just for the next five years but for decades to come. 

Rebranding the Ministry of Communication and Digital  

Prabowo's rebranding of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Kominfo) as the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) is a strategic move.

It sends a message that Prabowo has a serious commitment to digitalisation and is keeping up with the current trend where digital ministries around the world are positioned to lead the country's digital agenda and economic transformation. 

Its Southeast Asian counterparts have seen similar moves. Singapore renamed the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) to the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) last year. One year prior, Malaysia had split the Ministry of Communications and Digital into the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Digital in 2023.

Prabowo's decision to appoint Meutya Hafid as Minister of Komdigi is considered a wise choice. Hafid has a 10-year track record of leading the Information Commission in the Indonesian parliament, which means that she is familiar with the challenges faced by the ministry. Hafid is also believed to be more promising than her predecessor.  

With a new identity, Minister Hafid can focus on digital development and training more tech talents to drive the digital transformation agenda, including AI adoption. She will strive to realise meaningful connectivity and create safe and secure digital spaces, in addition to solving the pressing challenges: digital divide and digital literacy. 

However, cyber threats to state’s infrastructure and people’s privacy are still matters of concern. 

The ransomware attack on the National Data Centre which occurred last year must not be allowed to happen again. Preventive action must be taken by strengthening the country's cyber security posture and strengthening tactical coordination with the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN). 

To subscribe to the GovInsider bulletin click here.

Prabowo in no rush for AI transformation 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is expected to be more widely adopted by the government to provide better citizen services including healthcare and smart city. However, the Indonesian government's strategy in embracing AI seems quite light. 

For President Prabowo, the desire to implement AI needs to be accompanied by the ability to anticipate the negative impacts that may arise. Therefore, Prabowo has chosen a path of collaboration, communication, negotiation and is not rushing to push AI transformation before people are ready to understand this technology well.

According to Oxford Insights report, Indonesia's Government AI Readiness Index stands at 65.85, behind Malaysia (71.40) and Singapore (84.25). Better government readiness has enabled Malaysia to launch a National AI Office – an agency under Ministry of Digital – tasked with leading the country's AI agenda, or Singapore to advance its AI policy in its Smart Nation 2.0 vision. 

Prabowo wants to prioritise developing the AI ecosystem and embracing the broader AI community such as academics, researchers and private sector before taking further action. This is why Minister Komdigi has recently been active in launching AI centres at various universities.   

Speaking of collaboration, Indonesia missed an opportunity to increase its AI capacity as Nvidia decided to build their new R&D centre in Vietnam, even though Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had come to Indonesia and had a live phone call with Prabowo.  

There can be no AI development without infrastructure, and no infrastructure without a responsive bureaucracy and a streamlined investment licencing process. It may sound cliché, but these are the main issues that Prabowo needs to address. 

This article was originally published in Bahasa Indonesia.