Minister of Administrative Reform and Bureaucratic Reform (PANRB), Abdullah Azwar Anas interacted with Steve Scott, the Australian Chargé d’Affaires to Indonesia, to delve into the vital realm of digital government and transformation. The aim was to explore ways to catalyse a robust collaboration between the two nations, placing a distinct emphasis on leveraging the power of digitalisation.
This partnership holds the promise of invaluable insights, particularly in the realm of implementing cutting-edge digital policies and seamlessly integrating data – a pivotal step forward, drawing inspiration from Australia’s highly acclaimed GovTech framework.
“We hope also to be given lessons learned from the implementation of digitalisation policies and integrated data within the GovTech framework in Australia so that it can be a learning experience for us in the very new implementation in the Indonesian government,” said the PANRB Minister during the meeting, which was also attended by teams from the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) and the Indonesia-Australia Partnership Programme for Economic Reform (Prospera).
At the end of 2023, the Minister of PANRB and his team visited Australia to learn about best practices in government digitalisation implemented there. Through this visit, they gained a deep understanding of how technology can be implemented to improve the efficiency of public services in Australia.
Abdullah Azwar Anas stated that Australia has successfully synergised data and digital technology to promote inclusive public services focused on the welfare of society, such as through the MyGov platform and Digital ID. These initiatives are similar to Indonesia’s steps in implementing GovTech in 2024.
“We focus on basic public services, such as education, health, and social services, which are also similar to Australia, namely Digital ID, so the Indonesian government is also striving for it,” he explained.
The Ministry of PANRB has implemented various measures to accelerate digital government progress. Starting from the Presidential Regulation on e-Government in 2018, the Presidential Regulation on the National e-Government Architecture in 2022, and at the end of last year, President Joko Widodo issued the Presidential Regulation on Accelerating Digital Transformation and Integration of National Digital Services.
This regulation strengthens the foundation of digital government transformation policies in Indonesia through accelerated and holistic implementation of government digitalisation. Indonesia is currently implementing “GovTech,” a collaboration of cross-agency government coordination teams with the State-Owned Enterprise Perum Peruri.
Minister Anas also proposed two initiatives to strengthen Indonesia-Australia collaboration at the meeting. First, cooperation related to government services to support social welfare services in Indonesia, so through the role of the Ministry of PANRB as the chair of the National SPBE Coordination Team, it can coordinate with various related agencies in implementing cooperation in realising public services with a focus on social welfare services.
The second proposal is the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Minister PANRB and Minister for Finance, Minister for Women, and Minister for the Public Service Katy Gallagher for technical assistance for priority transformation initiatives as well as the transfer of knowledge and practices of government digitalisation from the two countries.
“Currently, the Australian government has cooperation with the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs in Indonesia, so in the future, the digital technology sector will also require similar things, so there will be a separate MoU with Ms Katy Gallagher regarding digital transformation and data in Indonesia,” he said.
The former Head of the LKPP also expressed his appreciation for Prospera’s support for the digital transformation acceleration agenda, which is part of the Project Management Office to support the secretariat of the National SPBE Coordination Team in carrying out the mandate of the Presidential Regulation on Accelerating Digital Transformation and Integration of National Digital Services.
The Indonesian government also feels the benefits of the cooperation between Indonesia and Australia, one of which is the cooperation between the Ministry of PANRB and the APSC regarding managing human resources, leadership, good government, integrity, accountability, innovation, and public services.
In the future, Anas said that Indonesia and Australia can continue to enhance cooperation in digital transformation, particularly in implementing digitalisation policies and data integration within the GovTech framework. Through this collaboration, both countries can learn from each other and exchange experiences to improve the efficiency and quality of public services.
