Building a Bridge Between Developers and Government

The proliferation of digital application developers in Indonesia today cannot be separated from the rapid pace of technological development. Unfortunately, in terms of collaborating with the government, they often experience obstacles that often make them reluctant to collaborate again. At the Ideafest event yesterday (7/8), Layang-Layang Mobile CEO Prasetyo Andy Wicaksono and Head of the Jakarta Smart City Technical Service Unit Setiaji talked about how to work together with the government in this digital era.

The current digital era has changed the life of society in Indonesia, including in the government system. Coupled with the presence of "new era" leaders, such as Basuki T. Purnama, Tri Rismaharini, to Ridwan Kamil, the Indonesian government is slowly but surely starting to move towards digitalization. When compared to the past few years, when the government tends to be closed, this is a positive sign.

Indonesia is still just starting this trend. There is still much to be done on both sides. In the Ideafest 2015 discussion session moderated by Arief Aziz, CEO and Founder of Layang-Layang Mobile Prasetyo Andy Wicaksono and Head of the Jakarta Smart City Technical Service Unit, Setiaji, shared their experiences when working with the government.

Align the vision and mission

One of the challenges that Prasetyo Andy Wicaksono feels the most when working with the government in Indonesia is how both parties can align their vision and mission to achieve their goals. Government and developer (developers) are basically two different entities with different visions and missions to achieve goals. In this digital era, they both need each other.

Prasetyo said, "The challenge is how to bridge the communication between these two parties. On the one hand, the government really understands about bureaucracy, while developers are those who have the creativity needed by the government."

Prasetyo emphasized that the current condition is much better than a few years ago. At that time the government tended to be more closed. This can be seen from the start of the era government data disclosure which can be used in various events, such as HackJak.

Limited communication space

The HackJak and Hack the Nation competition can be said to be one of the government's ways in embracing Indonesian developers to cooperate with the government. Last year's HackJak alone managed to gather 200 registered participants, while for Hackjack 2015 the government target contributions from 430 participants.

Setiaji said, "People who have an IT background, if they enter the government, usually their knowledge is not used. This is because they are more often involved in administrative matters which are closely related to government bureaucracy."

"Through events like HackJak, developers can use it as a way to collaborate with the government. [...] For this year's Hackjak, the government will also incubate the winner, so that the cooperation can be sustainable in the longer term," added Setiaji.

Both Setiaji and Prasetyo agree that there is still a lack of platforms that can be utilized by both the government and developers to work together. Even though more platforms are used to facilitate creative digital industry players to meet and exchange ideas, this industry can also thrive.

Prasetyo said, "Developers and people who concern in the field of technology in Indonesia has actually started a lot. However, there are not many fully mature and capable containers. Jakarta alone still doesn't have the [ideal] container for developer the ideal [new through competitions like HackJak]."

"Actually what is needed to make our technology industry more advanced is that there needs to be a forum for discussion and meetings between actors so that the results are better. Communities and places to meet like basecamp or co-working space can be used as a location for discussion and exchange of ideas, that hell what we need," he added.