- 13/04/2018
- Categories: Commentaries, Press Release
Yogyakarta, 12 April 2018 – Technology is now widely used to improve efficiency and reduce the complexity of relations between the state and citizen through the implementation of e-Government or digital governance. However, the development of digital governance in Indonesia is still in progress. Center for Digital Society (CfDS) UGM held ‘Digital Future Discussion’ (Diffusion) to discuss the challenges and opportunities of digital governance in Indonesia on Thursday (12/4).
Internet Freedom and Our Democracy
Internet restriction has become a common policy to curb our freedom of Internet activity. The government also does not hesitate to use strategy to manipulate information through social media. From distributing fake news and hoaxes, creating political bots, and producing pro-government propaganda,
Unfortunately, restoring our internet freedom is not an easy task. “To restore the trust and freedom of our society would be very difficult and take a long time. However, we can start by educating the public and overseeing the government regulation to ensure the government transparency. Also, social media companies also need to increase and fix their algorithm so users can avoid fake news, hoaxes, and propaganda on the internet,” said Priscila Asoka, CfDS research assistant.
e-Government in Indonesia: What is happening behind the stagnancy?
According to the report released by the UN e-Govt Survey that ranks countries based on the e-Government development, in 2016 Indonesia ranked 116th globally. Overall, Indonesia’s position tends to stagnate or slow down in the last 13 years.
Based on the survey’s indicators, several factors show how Indonesia performs by other countries. First, the development disparity and digital gap caused the high number of a citizen who has limited ability to use e-Government products. Second, the measurement using literacy and education levels will not give the accurate result as they do not reflect on citizen’s ability to use e-Government products. Lastly, the situation worsened by the lack of infrastructure to support e-Government implementation. Moreover, there is a problem of difference of interest, where the e-government has not been used to make communication between government institutions more efficient.
Chiara Anindya, a CfDS research associate, continued, “The root problem of e-Government development in Indonesia is the lack of infrastructure and interest differences, but then the problem is branched out and makes the issue even more complex.”
Data Privacy Protection in Indonesia
Several months ago, the Indonesian government announced the SIM Card registration program using the national ID numbers. The policy creates controversy within the society. “SIM card registration has a good intention, which makes our data collected in single national identity. However, there needs to be a clearer regulation which is the task of the government to ensure the protection of our private data,” said Faiz Rahman, a researcher from CfDS.
The absence of sufficient land thorough legal basis on data protection can create an opportunity for the misuse of user data. For instance, there is a concern against the exchange and purchase of customer data by telecommunication providers to business groups for marketing purpose.
Nevertheless, it is unwise to judge Indonesia’s poor development in e-government. Inside the micro sector, there are numerous government’s initiatives that provide a positive outcome for the process of governance. In general, the Diffusion event was successful. More than 25 participants attended a series of discussions with the speakers. Participants come from various backgrounds and participate in asking questions and responses enthusiastically.
