Digital Acceleration By Jokowi-Ma'ruf Amin In The Last Year

President Joko Widodo (Photo: Setkab)

JAKARTA - It is undeniable that the COVID-19 pandemic has indirectly pushed Indonesia's digital acceleration. Both the business sector, health services and internet network acceleration, which were evenly distributed, immediately accelerated in the last year.

Based on the 2020 annual report from the cabinet of Joko Widodo - Ma'ruf Amin, has prepared a health data portal as an ecosystem for the community. It is said that there are 48.3 million families registered on the one health data portal.

In September 2019, the Ministry of Health launched the One Health Data application to integrate various accurate information data. The platform contains sustainable health data governance.

The use of technology to facilitate access to health has accelerated in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is because digital health services enable people to fulfill their health needs without leaving the house.

One of them is telemedicine service, aka remote health consultation, which is increasingly popular in the midst of a pandemic which has limited space. Not only that, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kominfo) also presents telemedicine services in PeduliLindung, an application to track the spread of COVID-19.

The PeduliLindung application, which was launched in March 2020, has the main feature to map and monitor the movements of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 or Patients Under Supervision (PDP) and People Under Supervision (ODP).

Online Business Services

Apart from focusing on developing health portals, the Jokowi-Ma'ruf administration has also built 84 online business service centers with 8,876 products sold through the marketplace.

The report also states that the government has made a digital transformation leap to accelerate the development of disadvantaged areas, from 122 underdeveloped regions in 2015, to only 62 regions.

In early August 2020, President Jokowi has prepared a digital transformation roadmap in strategic sectors. According to the Executive Director of the Indonesia ICT Institute who is also an observer of the digital economy, Heru Sutadi, this step is an entry point for movement to the digital economy.

"This is a pretty good statement for the development of the digital economy in Indonesia, because this pandemic is turning people towards digital and it also means that there are points that we have not paid attention to," Heru said as quoted by Antara.

Heru also saw that e-commerce is currently growing rapidly where people are also selling and buying online. However, he stressed that the government must also prioritize national products.

"These local MSMEs must be empowered, their productions must also be developed in quality, because the production of these MSMEs does not only have local, national, and even global coverage," he said.

Kominfo has also taken steps to accelerate digital transformation in Indonesia, including the development of digital infrastructure, making digital transformation roadmaps in strategic sectors, accelerating data center integration, availability of digital talent, as well as financing and financing regulations and schemes.

Early October 2020, the Ministry of Communication and Information has launched the Indonesian MSME Digital Training program, to advance and strengthen MSME and ultra-micro partners in the country, especially those outside Java, especially in disadvantaged, outermost and frontier (3T) areas.

In an effort to accelerate digital transformation, in mid-July 2020, the Ministry of Communication and Information has also opened a Digital Talent Scholarship program to prepare digital talents with industry 4.0 expertise to move towards Indonesia's digital society.