E-GOVERMENT IN INDONESIA

E-Government in Indonesia

1. Introduction

Based on definition from World Bank, e Government is usage of information technology by government (such as: Wide Area Network, Internet and mobile computing) which make it possible for government to transform linkages with society, business world and other related parties. (www.worldbank.org). In practice, eGovernment is the usage of Internet to execute the government administration and provide better public service as well as public service oriented approach.

Briefly speaking the objectives to be obtained by implementing e Governemnt is to create online customer and not in-line. E Government means to provide service without any intervenes from the employee of public institutions and long queue system only to get a simple service. Besides, e Government also aims to support good governance. The technology usage makes society easy to access information can reduce corruption by increasing transparency and accountability of public institutions. E government can widen public participation in which society is likely to be actively in making decision/policy by government. E Government is also expected to improve the productivity and efficiency of bureaucracy in addition to increase the economic growth. In fact, the concept of e Government is to create a benevolence, comfortable, transparent, and cheap interaction between government and citizens (G2C-government to citizens), government and business enterprises (G2B-government to business enterprises) and relationship between governments (G2G-inter-agency relationship).

In Indonesia, e-government was officially introduced to public administration by Presidential Directive No 6/2001 on Telematics, which states that the government of Indonesia has to use telematics technology to support good governance. Furthermore, e-government should have been introduced for different purposes in government offices.

In Indonesia, E-government is needed for the following reasons: 1) to support the government change towards a democratic governance practices; 2) to support the application of authority balances between central and local government; 3) to facilitate communication between central and local governments; 4) to gain openness; and 5) transformation towards information society era.

Changes are expected to build clean and transparant government which is capable to respond the changes effectively, to build a new dimension into organization, management system and process, and soon applying the transformation process towards e-government.

Online services will motivate people to recognize internet. The government could disseminate the information through website. E-government could also become a strategic tool for controlling. A Bupati (Head Of Regency Level) for example could see the tax this year and compared to data the year before. He also could see if a company is progressing and tax has been paid.

Data and information could be useful and providing invaluable added values if it is managed integratively by a national information center. All developing information center available could be functioned as nodes to national center. The national center is then integrating various sectoral information centers, government owned or private.

In the era of regional autonomy, at present more than 23 of 265 regencies throughout Indonesia are preparing E-government network. Fourteen of them are located in Denpasar, Gianyar, Sulawesi, Gorontalo, and Semarang. In Takalar regency- South Sulawesi and East Kutai- East Kalimantan provinces, the implementation of E-government has been initiated by government in collaboration with Indonesia Telecommunication Company and has been developed since September 2000. And therefore the people at these two regencies have used them and enjoyed better services. Among of the information provided by these two regencies are Geographic Information System (GIS) and Management Information System (MIS). These information have been used for promotion of investment to some developed countries.

2. Fact of e-Government Status in Indonesia

I. Basic Infrastructure (Telecommunication & Computer)

¨ There are 468 local governments, main districts / cities in Indonesia, but only 214 local governments have websites as the first phase of e-gov development. From those 214 sites, 186 are accessible, the rest 28 are inaccessible (under construction / not found).

¨ Local governments, main districts / cities who have websites :

v 80%-100% : DKI Jakarta, DI Yogyakarta, East Java, and Bali

v 60%-79% : Lampung, West Java, Central Java, and East Kalimantan

v 40%-59% : West Sumatra, Riau, Banten, and North Sulawesi

v 20%-39% : North Sumatra, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, Gorontalo, and South Sulawesi

v 1%-19% : Nanggro Aceh Darussalam, Jambi, Bengkulu, Central Kalimantan, East Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, Papua, and North Moluccas

v 0% : Bangka Belitung, and Moluccas

¨ Ministry of Communication and Information, as the authority given by Indonesian government to develop e-gov, are still doing some process to give rating to local government websites.

v There are 283 websites, consists of 37 department/ministry/high government body websites, 32 non-governmental body websites, and 214 local government province district and city websites

v The rating points are concentrated on speed accessibility, display, content, contextual, usability, readability, data mobility (dynamic/static), accuracy, public information service, hits and platform using.

v The goal of government website rating are

1. Knowing the capability, ability, and quality of a government website

2. Giving input regarding the website condition to the administrator

3. Developing innovation and giving motivation to the government website administrator

¨ Computerization network that will be used at 2004 General Election, after the

¨ According to document released by General Election Committee (Komite Pemilihan Umum - KPU) as the executor of the development of 2004 General Election computerization network, there will be 8000 computer giving to 438 main districts/cities and 5059 sub-districts.

¨ Total sub-district In Indonesia is 4994, but not all of them have connection to telecommunication and/or internet.

v 2552 sub-districts will have PT Telkom cable phone connection

v 2442 sub-districts others that have not connected, will get from Pasific Satelit Nusantara (PSN) satellite connection

¨ The lack of infrastructure in Indonesia nowadays results in the readiness of e-gov services only reach 9% of Indonesian citizens. It based on survey and study research by Kominfo, university and government research body on the readiness of e-government implementation. Supporting infrastructure that measured are telecommunication infrastructure, internet & computer penetration, rules, human resources, financial, and strategy.

¨ Ministry of Communication and Information said that amount of investment needed to build e-Indonesia network backbone, as one of the condition to make e-gov in Indonesia success, is estimated at US$ 50 million (around Rp. 430 billion).

¨ Ministry of Communication and Information gave investment illustration to build e-gov solution in some place, which are 1 unit server computer , 5 client computers, and 6 months human resources training estimated at Rp. 300 million (around US$ 35000).

II. Supporting Regulation (Act)

¨ Indonesian President, Abdurrahman Wahid in 2001 had released Presidential Decree No. 6/2001 about “ Developing and Usability of ICT in Indonesia” stating concept of “Government Online” inside. That concept aims increase: good governance, transparency & government accountability effort, citizen participation, public services, and working relation between government bodies.

¨ Indonesian President, Megawati Soekarnoputri in 2003 had released Presidential Decree No. 3/2003 about “Policy and National Strategy on e-Government Development”, on July 2003. It aims that government bodies central or local can understand the importance of e-goc, strategic aim of e-gov, obstacles that can happen on implementing e-gov, way of developing, strategy and implementation on developing e-gov, nationally or the bodies themselves.

¨ Ministry of Communication and Information said that e-gov in Indonesia has just entered the first phase, which is only at display on websites. Even so, some of them have advancing and able to create interaction between user and government. These interactions, such as questions and answers, consulting and communication forum by internet. To achieve transaction phase, e-gov websites need regulations. That is, beside Presidential Decree No. 3/2003 mentioned above, Information and Electronic Transaction (ITE) Act still needed, which can be a lawsuit on every transaction. Draft of ITE Act has been given to the President through National Secretary by Ministry of Communication and Information, to be discussed with the Parliament after 2004 General Election, those draft is the combination of act, which proposed by a team from Faculty of Law University of Padjadjaran and University of Indonesia.

¨ Ministry of Communication and Information will release 10 documents about guidance of e-gov in Indonesia. Those guidance are about: (1) Government portal standard infrastructure (2) e-record management (3) standard quality (4) service range & application development (5) authorization body policy (6) information exchange (7) private involvement (8) good governance development policy & change management (9) education policy, project execution & budgeting, and (10) guideline to arranging developing e-government body plan.

¨ According to task force of Ministry of Communication and Information, some of government institutions in the country so far have investing on IT usage in government operational but only at first phase, which is “front office”. So that, it is good enough to accomplished an ideal e-gov in Indonesia in 5-10 years.

¨ Total population of Indonesian citizen is 214,561,040 people. Total Telkom conventional phone connections in Indonesia are 7.8 million connections (2 million are in Universal Service Obligator area). Telkom customers are 7.4 million. Total village in Indonesia are 72 thousand villages, 42 thousand haven’t touched by telephone connection.

¨ Data on first week of January 2004, there are 18.6 million cell phone number:

o Telkomsel 9.7 million

o Indosat group 6 million

o Excelcom 2.9 million

¨ Total cell phone users in Indonesia on 2002 are 11.45 million numbers, on 2003 are 18.2 million numbers. Projected on 2004, cellular users are reaching 22 to 25 million numbers.

¨ 55% cell phone user in Indonesia accepting new technology in a good way, such as SMS and MMS services to enrich their way of communication. About 57% (age 20-29 years old) and 60% (age 15-19 years old) cell phone user in Indonesia, send more SMS than reading a book when killing time. Source: Siemens Mobile Lifestyle III Survey / Asia Bus / Koran Tempo (March 2003).

As a comparative study, we can observe the implementation of eGovernment in the European Union countries. The European Union is one of community that has applied eGovernment successfully. Only Canada, Singapore, and United States of America which have surpassed the European Union in the area of eGovernment. European Union itself has possessed a modern official website in which each citizen can access the latest information and policy as well as legal foundation of the government policy. At certain times, citizens even can interact in a straight line with the decision makers via chatting facilities (www.europa.eu.int). By having a very big capacity portal, citizen can apply for job and on-he-job-apprentice at the institution. There still many other facilities which are provided by its websites. In order to motivate public service in executing eGovernment, eEurope awards (www.e-europeawards.org) are operated in the framework of facilitating sharing experience and mutual learning among the members of European Union. Besides, eGovernment is performed by providing direct access facilities to government website of member countries and applicant countries as well as other European countries. The sample of best practice which is available in Dutch are among others; custom duties administration which can be done online so that bribe cases can be controlled and reduced. In British, the citizens can apply and renew their passports online. Whilst in French, the reimburse cost already paid for health by insurance companies have be done online. The regional government of Bonn in Germany at present is providing online service that is registration for kindergarten. Through its online portal citizens can obtain information about all kindergartens in the city and the parents can apply directly to be contacted via telephone.

Besides, the successful of eGovernment in Europe signifies public policy contribution which in line with the characteristics of e Government itself. Soft policy comprises of Open Method Coordination in the European e Government which started with wide and clear vision and followed by dissemination, benchmarking process, periodical monitoring, evaluation and review in twosome and is organized as mutual learning process has been attested successful in the framework of implementing e Government in Europe.

3. Potential benefits Implementation of E-Government In Indonesia

1. Risks

There are many considerations and potential implications of implementing and designing e-government, including disintermediation of the government and its citizens, impacts on economic, social, and political factors.

2. Hyper-surveillance

Increased contact between government and its citizens goes both ways. Once e-government begins to develop and become more sophisticated, citizens will be forced to interact electronically with the government on a larger scale. This could potentially lead to a lack of privacy for civilians as their government obtains more and more information on them.

3. Is Hyper-Surveillance Too Much?

With the speed that technology continues to increase, it has become economically feasible for government agencies (from the local level to the federal level), to implement all measures of surveillance. Security cameras in our local supermarket are recording our presence; the firewall at our work is monitoring the web sites we visit, and in some cases, emails are monitored for key words that could be considered offensive.

4. Cost

Although “a prodigious amount of money has been spent” on the development and implementation of e-government, some say it has yielded only a mediocre product. The outcomes and effects of trial Internet-based governments are often difficult to gauge or unsatisfactory.

5. Inaccessibility

An e-government site that provides web access and support often does not offer the “potential to reach many users including those who live in remote areas, are homebound, have low literacy levels, exist on poverty line incomes, suffer from chronic illness, are single parents or older adults.

6. False sense of transparency and accountability

Opponents of e-government argue that online governmental transparency is dubious because it is maintained by the governments themselves. Information can be added or removed from the public eye (i.e. the Internet) with or without public notice.

7. Benefits

It is convenient and cost-effective for businesses, and the public benefits by getting easy access to the most current information available without having to spend time, energy and money to get it.

8. Democratization

One goal of e-government will be greater citizen participation. Through the internet, people from all over the country can interact with politicians or public servants and make their voices heard. Blogging and interactive surveys will allow politicians or public servants to see the views of the people they represent on any given issue.

9. Environmental bonuses

Proponents of e-government argue that online government services would lessen the need for hard copy forms. Due to recent pressures from environmentalist groups, the media, and the public, some governments and organizations have turned to the Internet to reduce this paper use.

10. Speed, efficiency, and convenience

E-government allows citizens to interact with computers to achieve objectives at any time and any location, and eliminates the necessity for physical travel to government agents sitting behind desks and windows. Improved accounting and record keeping can be noted through computerization, and information and forms can be easily accessed, equaling quicker processing time.

11. Public approval

Recent trials of e-government have been met with acceptance and eagerness from the public. Citizens participate in online discussions of political issues with increasing frequency, and young people, who traditionally display minimal interest in government affairs, are drawn to e-voting procedures.

4. E Govoverment obstacles in Indonesia:

o No sharing information culture

o Documentation information culture still unusual

o Lack of expert IT manpower in government

o Inadequate telecommunication infrastructure (expensive and uneven)

o Inadequate place to access information

• Recruitment system in local government still not transparent and not nepotism free
• A lot of government officials will be left out or feel disadvantage, because of e-gov
• Local government project will only going in 4-5 years, based on major/governor length of service
• Lack of knowledge in local government manpower will cause vendor/other offering e-gov solution which is expensive but useless

o Inadequate telecommunication infrastructure (expensive and uneven)

• Local government builds their own e-gov application based on their version, ignoring the integration concept and interconnection between information systems

5. Strategy for Developmening E Government In Indonesia

Based on strategic plan of the State Ministry of Communication and Information, there are some strategic plan to develop e-government as follows:

1) To develop a good service system with reasonable cost. The focus are to extend and improve the quality of information and communication network, to build the information portals and integrated public services, to build the electronic document management system, standardization and information security system;

2) To develop management system of central and local government. The focus are to improve the quality of services needed by the community, to manage the changes, to enforce the leadership and to improve the product of the regulation.

3) To optimize the use of information technology. The focus are on building the interoperability, standardization and procedure of electronic document management system, information security, basic application (e-billing, e-reporting) and to develop intergovernment network.

4) To improve the participation of private sector and information technology industry. The focus are to use the expertise of the private sector, to encourage participation of private sector and small industries.

5) To develop manpower capacity in the central and local government. The objectives are to develop ICT culture in government institutions, to optimize the use of ICT training facilities, to extend the use of ICT for distant learning, and to put ICT as input for school curriculum and to improve the quality of teaching.

6. Conclusion

E-government in Indonesia is developing, especially in some central and regional/local government offices. The activities are not only to cover the communication but for administrative and public service area as well. The State Minister of Communication and Information is formally in charge of e-government development in Indonesia. Hence, some strategies are being developed for better application of e-government. Working together to share resources is one of suggested recommendations for better application of e-government in the future.

7. Criticism and Suggestion

To face the challenges above, the government should:

1. Make an attempt in improving the quality of human resources development. It is necessary run training on technology for government officials. Since technology changes rapidly so that the employees are also required to be prepared with mental attitude for learning and response to change.

2. Indonesia also ought to restructure its organizations that among others could be done by combating Corruption Collusion and Nepotism practice gradually which contribute to cultural barrier within the scope of eGovernment implementation. The shady characters that use this opportunity by hampering to obtain information must be prevented.

3. look at carefully about which policy is applied in the framework of implementing eGovernment in Indonesia. The policy to implement eGovernment needs a standardized legal foundation/ or apparent foundation of implementation. In addition to the policy it is also necessary to determine further legal foundation/ technical manual of eGovernment implementation or cyber law.