SINGAPORE: In a charge to cut down on administrative procedures, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has ordered federal officers to stop developing innovative portable applications.
He does this as he kick-starts a project that aims to connect the roughly 27, 000 existing applications used by various ministries and local administrations.
Mr. Widodo, more commonly known as Jokowi, stated at the condition government may be looking to optimize and promote public services at the release event of INA Digital at the state house in Jakarta on Monday ( May 27 ).  ,
” But how can it be simple when departments, government bodies, and local governments have more or less 27, 000 software,” Mr. Widodo was quoted as saying in a speech addressed to an audience of officials and other government authorities.  ,
” Every day there’s a fresh minister, a new producer- standard, there’s a new program. It’s the same point with local services. If there’s a change of government or company mind, there’s a shift of software”.
He also made reference to a$ 6.2 trillion ringgit ( US$ 388.11 million ) budget formerly allocated for fresh online software development, which was scrapped earlier this year, and that the inclusion of public service to the INA Digital program could help the government save money.  ,
Of the 27, 000 total, the health ministry alone reportedly contributed some 400 applications while an unnamed ministry appeared to have another 4, 000 operating under its jurisdiction, according to the Jakarta Post.  ,
INA Digital was” not a ( new ) platform or application, but rather the implementation of an integrated digital public service system,” according to Minister of State Apparatus Utilization and Bureaucratic Reform Abdullah Azwar Anas, who also spoke at the event.  ,
It aims to provide a single system that makes it possible for Indonesians to sign into applications run by various ministries and government bodies without having to enter their national identification numbers multiple times.
However, to access various public services, users will still need to use different apps.  ,
Mr Azwar Anas, quoted in the Jakarta Post, said that by September, INA Digital will have integrated the services of at least 15 ministries and government bodies, including the home ministry, the health ministry, the education, culture, research and technology ministry as well as the social affairs ministry.
According to Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir, who was quoted in the Jakarta Globe, 400 local digital talent are developing the INA Digital super application, a mobile or web application that combines multiple services into one platform.  ,
According to the public sector innovation media platform GovInsider, GovTech Indonesia is led by the state-owned company Perum Peruri, along with the National Electronic-Based Government System ( SPBE ) Coordination Team, and various ministries and agencies.  ,
According to local media outlet Kompas, it will launch in May and be made public within four months.  ,
Jokowi earlier this year, when he tasked him with INA Digital with launching the platform’s nine priority services, the wheels of which were to be incorporated.  ,
The nine priority services earmarked for INA Digital’s initial stage were: Education, health, social assistance services, police services, digital payment services, a data exchange platform, state apparatus services, population administration services, and a one- stop public services portal.
According to the Jakarta Post, Mr. Azwar Anas stated on Monday that” the next strategic steps will be to gradually improve ( INA Digital ) and strengthen governance in order to coordinate this digital transformation effort.”  ,
In 2023, Indonesia was the second-highest country in terms of local cybersecurity threats, according to the international cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, behind Vietnam.  ,
The country’s public service has suffered a number of high- profile attacks, including a reported breach of the General Elections Commission’s (KPU) database in November 2023, less than three months before the February general election, which put voters ‘ personal data up for sale on black market forums.