The Smart Change project coordinated by the Berlin Senate has launched the Multi-Stakeholder and Policy Dialogue Series. This is a two-year initiative for the exchange of know-how among dedicated smart city professionals. The purpose is to help policy-making for a sustainable Jakarta.

How can a city administration know about concrete challenges, reflect on its own governance performance and increase citizen’s acceptance of urban policies? In the case of smart city-related policies, Jakarta has made the next step towards those challenges – in the context of the Smart Change project, an EU-funded action coordinated by the Berlin Senate and its co-beneficiary, the Provincial Government of DKI Jakarta. 

“Jakarta should not provide only livelihood, but also life for its people...” Anies Baswedan, Governor of Jakarta

On 3-4 March 2021, Jakarta’s Governor Anies Baswedan aired an optimistic tone in the implementation of Smart City in Indonesia while inaugurating the online Multi-stakeholder Dialogue I: ‘Smart City and  Urban Innovation in Support of Smart City Committee (Komite Kota Cerdas)’. 

Notably, the first MSD was simply the beginning of a constructive collaboration between government and society for the next two years as it is envisaged there will be 15 multi-stakeholder dialogues, and 12 policy dialogues materialized.

Urban Challenges: Listening to citizens’ perceptions 

It commenced with a presentation by Wicaksono Sarosa and Jan Ramos Pandia,, in which they presented key findings of an online survey on ‘Understanding Community Perception and Experiences in the Context of Jakarta Smart City’.  The results of the survey demonstrate how respondents are not satisfied with the performance of the Jakarta Provincial Government in dealing with various problems, especially those related to slum settlements, congestion, floods, air pollution, poverty, solid waste, corruption/extortion, and transparency of policies and budgets. However, there are several encouraging aspects that show a good performance of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government, such as public health, clean water, and public services. 

Smart city solutions: Daring to involve and co-create with digital public services

All in all, over 90 percent of respondents have not been involved in an online regional planning process and 52 percent have no slightest idea of the existence of the so-called super or one-stop-shop app of public services in Jakarta, namely JAKI app. To those who have used JAKI and familiar with this app, the survey results indicate that even though the respondents have downloaded JAKI on their cell phones, JAKI is still not fully used. Furthermore, the complaint/reporting feature in JAKI has not been used frequently. However, the respondents are generally satisfied with the follow-up of reports through JAKI. 

Jakarta Smart City unit: Partnering up with academia, startups and civil society

A key public-private implementer of innovative smart city solutions and policies is the Jakarta Smart City unit, established in December 2014 by the DKI Jakarta provincial government. The agency is using sustainable information and communication technology to help urban communities manage their existing resources wisely and efficiently. It has multiple startups as partners as well as academic collaboration, event planning to publish its own Future City Journal. It hinges on three objective values as exemplified by the head of JSC, Yudhistira Nugraha, namely: to elevate the quality of life of society, to promote economic growth and to embrace sustainability. 

Seven Pillars of Smart City 

 

• First, a technology-based approach has been widely used for various public services in Jakarta, even though it is not entirely integrated. This indicates that there is still room for improvement to integrate public services delivery in Jakarta in order to ease access for everyone, including the marginalized community who have no/limited access to technology. For further development, the DKI Jakarta government can utilize JAKI as a one-stop app solution to deliver quality public services; 

 

• Second, the pandemic has forced various innovative and smart urban solutions. This has proven to be valid in different sectors, such as economy, tourism, health, transportation, as well as civil administration, which can increase the effectiveness and efficiency of services. These measures should be sustainable and continuously expanded, even after the pandemic is over and may be addressed in pilot initiatives within this dialogue series.

 

• Third, data collected should be used for smart city policy-making processes. While data extracted from various platforms is very large, the utilization of that data and information has not been at its maximum level, particularly for designing future policy. The data can also be obtained through collaboration with the third party such as start-ups, research organisations, and even community. This mutual partnership will promote evidence-based policy and program, which not only responds to immediate needs but also prevents unintended impacts. 

 

• Fourth, the penetration of technology in the economy can widen the digital divide – a danger for acceptance of smart city policy. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth of the digital economy in Jakarta, particularly for many SMEs and those in informal sectors. However, not all enterprises benefit equally in such a rapid shift in economy. Some vulnerable and marginalized communities have not been able to tap the benefit of this opportunity, largely due to the no/limited access to ICT. This, in turn, can increase digital divide as well as further socioeconomic inequality. 

 

• Fifth, vertical and horizontal governance is critical to ensure policy coherence. As there are many stakeholders involved in the decision-making process in Jakarta, there is an emerging need to align national policies and translate them into a local context. At the same time, coordination amongst agencies and departments within the provincial government also needs to be strengthened. In doing so, the use of technology innovations can enable better multilevel and cross-sectoral coordination mechanisms with several underlying conditions, such as openness and transparency in utilising the data.

 

At the policy level, development has a tendency to be an elixir. The smart city-related indicators hinge upon the United Nations Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Smart and Sustainable Cities (SSC), which are based on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

In relation to national ambitions, Jakarta’s Provincial Government takes SDGs into considerations when identifying strategic issues in Jakarta and these issues will be used as the basis in establishing the Regional Mid-Term Development Plan (Rencana Pembangunan Jangka Menengah Daerah/RPJMD) 2017 – 2022, as stipulated based on Regulation of the Special Capital Region of Jakarta Province No. 1 of 2018 (“Regulation 1/2018”). 

International partnerships: Berlin contributing to  and learning from the local dialogues

Notwithstanding the fact that there is already much data being collected corresponding to the SDG indicators, which may serve citizens, companies and academia alike to grasp innovation potential and current issues, there remains a major gap in terms of congruity of strategy and indicators and an inconsistency of terminology that must be addressed between the KPIs of SSC and SDG. This will remain a challenge to orient development related goals in Smart City not towards an elixir but towards achievable goals at the central government level and Jakarta provincial government level. Here, the collaboration with Berlin may be interesting in either supporting the process from an outside perspective – and as a case to learn from and engage with its urban innovation ecosystem. 

Authors: Jan Ramos Pandia, Wicaksono Sarosa, Christina Desy, Nurulitha Andini, Farah Purwaningrum (consortium Hukumonline and RuangWaktu, Jakarta) co-edited: Helen Franke, Berlin

Further contact information: Smart Change Jakarta: Helen Franke, helen.franke@senweb.berlin.de 

 

About Smart Change

Smart Change “STRENGTHENING URBAN GOVERNANCE, PROSPERITY AND INNOVATION IN JAKARTA”, funded by the European Union, is implemented jointly by the Jakarta Provincial Government and the State Government of Berlin. It is promoting good governance and sustainable urban development in Jakarta following the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development through the sister city partnership between Jakarta and Berlin as well as supporting the triangular cooperation with Bangkok.

About Jakarta Smart City

Jakarta Smart City is a Regional Public Service Agency (BLUD) under the Jakarta Department of Communication, Informatics, and Statistics. In the journey of transforming Jakarta into a smart city, Jakarta Smart City embodies 4 main principles, namely Mobile First, System and Data Tech, Digital Xperience, and Smart Collaboration. These principles are the credo of Jakarta Smart City in developing products and services and realising the smart city 4.0 ecosystem to improve the quality of life and create happiness for the citizens of Jakarta. It aims at transforming and boosting the city’s evolution towards the government as a collaborator instead of as an administrator.

About Hukumonline and RuangWaktu

Hukumonline is a legal technology company established to provide education and enlightenment to the public about the legal hemisphere and its issues in Indonesia. RuangWaktu is a knowledge hub that focuses on sustainable urban development.

About Multi-Stakeholder and Policy Dialogue Series

The Multi-Stakeholder and Policy Dialogue Series is a strategic two-year initiative to support the 4.0 transformation program of Jakarta. It will connect relevant stakeholders and facilitate the exchange on current urban challenges and how these challenges can be solved by Smart City and Urban Innovation initiatives and policies. The dialogue participants are discussing smart cities, urban innovation, urban mobility, urban health, urban lifestyle, and other relevant topics.