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SINGAPORE: Indonesian President Joko Widodo has ordered government officials to stop developing new mobile apps in a bid to reduce bureaucracy.
Previously, he launched a program to integrate systems and data from about 27,000 existing applications operated by ministries and regional governments.
Jokowi said at the launch of INA Digital at the National Palace in Jakarta on Monday (May 27) that the state bureaucracy should seek means to simplify and facilitate public services.
“But how can it be easy when ministries, government agencies and local governments have received about 27,000 applications?” Widodo was quoted as saying by local media in a speech to ministers and other government officials.
“Every time a new minister or director-general comes in, there are new applications. The same is true for local administration. If there is a change in governor or head of an agency, the application changes accordingly.”
He also said that consolidating public services onto the INA Digital platform could help the government save money, noting that a 6.2 trillion rupee ($388.11 million) budget previously allocated for the development of new online applications was cancelled earlier this year.
The Jakarta Post reported that the Ministry of Health alone submitted about 400 applications out of a total of 27,000, while an unnamed ministry appeared to have jurisdiction over another 4,000 applications.
Minister of State Machinery Use and Bureaucratic Reform Abdullah Azwal Anas, who attended the event, said INA Digital is “not a (new) platform or an application, but the implementation of an integrated digital public service system”.
It aims to provide a single system that allows Indonesians to log into apps operated by different ministries and government agencies without having to repeatedly enter their national identification number.
But users still need to use different applications to access different public services.
The Jakarta Post quoted Azwar Anas as saying that by September, INA Digital will integrate the services of at least 15 ministries and government agencies, including the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, and Ministry of Social Affairs.
The INA Digital super app (a mobile or web application that integrates multiple services into one platform) is being developed by 400 local digital talents under a project called GovTech Indonesia, The Jakarta Globe reported, citing State Enterprises Minister Eric Thohir.
GovTech Indonesia is jointly led by state-owned enterprise Perum Peruri, the State e-Government System (SPBE) Coordination Group, and various ministries and agencies, according to public sector innovation media platform GovInsider.
According to local media platform Kompas, the system is scheduled to be open to the public within four months after a trial run in May.
Earlier this year, Jokowi launched the INA Digital initiative and earmarked nine priority services to be included in the platform.
The nine priority services in the initial phase of INA Digital include: education, health, social assistance services, police services, digital payment services, data exchange platforms, state agency services, population management services and a one-stop public service portal.
“The next strategic step will be to gradually improve (INA Digital) and strengthen governance related to coordinating this digital transformation effort,” Azwar Anas said on Monday, according to The Jakarta Post.
According to international cybersecurity company Kaspersky, Indonesia ranked second in the number of local cybersecurity threats in 2023, second only to Vietnam.
The country’s public service has suffered several high-profile attacks, including a reported hack of the General Election Commission’s (KPU) database in November 2023, less than three months before the February election, where voters’ personal data was sold on black market forums.
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