E-Government Not Optimal

In terms of the index, e-government is improving. In practice, however, people still have difficulty accessing e-government services, including faulty equipment.

Kompas/Wawan H Prabowo

Residents queue for the process of recording Electronic Identity Cards (E-KTP) at the Pondok Aren District Office, South Tangerang, Banten, Monday (15/6/2020). The Department of Population and Civil Registration (Disdukcapil) of South Tangerang City has re-opened the e-KTP recording service which was stopped in line with the implementation of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) since April 18.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The government\'s acceleration from conventional to electronic government is not yet optimal. Some public service sectors have been able to make the switch, but more than a few are idling. Obstacles include poor quality of human resources and a lack of alignment among local administrations on this strategic agenda.

In fact, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the transformation to e-government is a must, particularly to avoid crowds. The commitment of both central and local administrations is needed to accelerate digital transformation of government for faster, transparent and accountable public services.

Based on the E-Government Development Index (EGDI) developed by the United Nations, Indonesia’s e-government ranking rose significantly from 107th in 2018 to 88th in 2020. The best rank Indonesia has ever achieved was in 2003 at 70th. Indonesia\'s worst ranking was in 2016 at 116th.

Also read:

> Government Officials on Standby

> An Effective Government

The EGDI ranks 193 countries by measuring the level of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, ICT competence among human resources, and availability of online public services.

In practice, people still find it difficult to use digital public services, one of which is to access the population and civil registration service. According to the experience of Natalia Magdalena, a 43-year-old private employee, she once visited the Jakarta Investment and One-Stop Service Agency (DPMPTSP) to apply for an electronic identity card (e-KTP) because she had lost her old card.

KOMPAS/KRISTI DWI UTAMI

Tegal Regent Umi Azizah (third from left) practices a digital payment system at the entrance gate of Guci hot spring tourism object, Tegal Regency, Central Java, Monday (15/3/2021). Digitization of payments is also expected to reduce the leakage of user fees that harm local governments.

At the office was an automated machine called ADM that offered a self-printing service for population and civil registration documents. However, when she got there, Natalia was instead told to go to the local office in the district where she lived.

"It turned out that the ADM machine wasn’t working," she said on Thursday (16/9/2021).

An officer at the Jakarta DPMPTSP, Sinday Purnama Sari, said the ADM machine had not worked since it was first installed. She did not provide details on why the machine couldn’t be used. "From the beginning [when] it was sent here, [it couldn\'t be used]. I\'ve tried, but it didn\'t work," said Sinday.

Wahyu (33), a resident of Purworejo, Central Java, also had an unpleasant experience in accessing electronic civil registration services. In March, he wanted to print his e-KTP because he had his old one. He used WhatsApp to try are reach the contact listed on the Purworejo Population and Civil Registry website to ask about the requirements, but he never received a response.

Whe he tried to apply through the Purworejo Civil Registration Service website, Wahyu again met a dead end. In fact, according to him, he had uploaded all the required documents except for a photo of his old e-KTP. He admitted that he did not have a photo of the e-KTP he had lost. "In the end, [my application] was rejected," he said.

Administrative sciences professor Sangkala at Hasanuddin University Makassar said the government should not become complacent on its higher EGDI ranking. In fact, digital transformation to electronic government (SPBE) as stipulated in Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 95/2018 had been very slow.

Kompas/Wawan H Prabowo

Officers serve residents who will record Electronic Identity Cards at the Pondok Aren District Office, South Tangerang, Banten, Monday (15/6/2020).

Digital literacy

According to Sangkala, developing technology infrastructure only contributed 20 percent to the digital transformation of government. “The rest is more about politics, culture, mindset, competence [human resources]. These are all more dominant," he said.

Yanuar Nugroho, an advisor to the Center for Innovation Policy and Governance, said the current bureaucratic challenge was honing the knowledge and digital literacy of government officials. Digital skills had become an absolute requirement, especially regarding cybersecurity and cybercrime.

According to Yanuar, only the civil registration and social assistance sectors had switched to digital, while the other sectors had not been optimal. In the health sector, for example, patient medical records had not been integrated from data at Puskesmas (community health center) to data at regional general hospitals (RSUD).

Governance Systems and Management undersecretary Rini Widyantini at the Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry admitted that although Indonesia\'s EGDI ranking had increased, there were still shortcomings. The results of the 2018-2020 evaluation on SPBE showed national SPBE scores of 1.98 in 2018, 2.18 in 2019 and 2.26 in 2020 on a scale of 1 to 5. This meant that policy had been strengthened, but that the implementation of the SPBE at central government and local administrations has not been integrated.

Local administrations with limited revenue are experiencing difficulties. Generally, these areas are outside Java.

To solve this, the national SPBE coordination team aimed to encourage collaboration between central and regional agencies to improve SPBE implementation. The efforts include drafting a national map on SPBE architecture and planning, implementing policies related to the SPBE Perpres, strengthening infrastructure support and system integration for government services.

Nikson Nababan, who heads government and apparatus empowerment at the Association of Regency Administrations (Apkasi), said that the SPBE implementation was running slowly in the regions because it was being managed in stages.

Besides which, there were obstacles related to human resources and funding for implementing the SPBE. “Local administrations with limited revenue are experiencing difficulties. Generally, these areas are outside Java," he said.

This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswoko.