Last month, we were given a personal tour of the Traffic Police Command Centre and spoke to Indonesian Traffic Police Commissioner, Dwi Sigit Nurmantyas.
Dwi Sigit Nurmantyas was recently assigned to the post of Commissioner, with great plans to expand the IT skills and capabilities of the Traffic Police.
He informed us about the progress being made since integrating advanced technologies throughout the facilities and how it has aided the efforts of traffic police.
This year, the Traffic Police are looking to optimise data analytics as they continue to assess its use within their operations. To support this, they are working to integrate data from the toll roads which will provide added intelligence.
“Since we are trying to understand the traffic conditions on the roads, we will look to integrate data from the toll roads to help measure vehicle saturation on the roads,” said Cmr. Dwi Sigit Nurmantyas, “This, along with CCTV coverage, will give us more intelligence about traffic.”
Government agencies are beginning to realise that online platforms, such as Twitter, play a huge role in citizens’ everyday lives. To capitalise on this, the Traffic Police are looking to put social media data to good use.
Indonesian Traffic Police are capitalising on the nation’s high mobile penetration and use of social media in their own way. Social media has helped them stay abreast of the traffic situations and citizen engagement with the police.
“From social media, we will source information about traffic from platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Android apps,” Cmr. Dwi Sigit Nurmantyas told us.
They monitor social media for keywords and phrases which could indicate where a traffic incident could be. The Traffic Police are active on Twitter and Facebook, updating the public frequently on the conditions of the road and the situation of traffic.
Recognising that data collecting and sharing will result in greater benefits for all parties involved, Cmr. Dwi Sigit Nurmantyas is looking to coordinate data sharing with the Ministry of Transport. This will help the Traffic Police to further optimise operations, while aiding Ministry of Transport.
“Next, we are looking to integrate our data with the Ministry of Transport. This will help our agencies to work together in reducing congestion on the roads and make for a better commuting experience,” Cmr. Dwi Sigit Nurmantyas stated.
Over the next few years, the Traffic Police will introduce new ICT that will capture CCTV coverage and citizen feedback in an intelligent manner.
“The challenge is that we have a lot of CCTV cameras to monitor. This requires more manpower to manage properly,” explained Cmr. Dwi Sigit Nurmantyas, “We intend to enhance and replace our current CCTV system with something new that will enable us to integrate new and advanced ICT.”
“We are also developing more analytical tools to collate data from citizens reporting traffic incidents and conditions.”