In the era of information technology, many aspects in life such as saving and transferring data are made easier, saving the hassle of losing paper or photographs. This convenience makes the society shift from conventional to digital, including in the government sector.
Countries throughout the world like South Korea, the Netherlands, the United States, etc. are now running an electronic-based government called e-Government. Currently, Indonesia has also started implementing it.
What is e-Government
According to the World Bank, eGovernment is the use of information technology by the government, which enables the government to transform relations with the public, business world, and other interested parties. In practice, eGovernment is the use of the internet to carry out government affairs and provide public services in a better and service-oriented manner. It has been implemented throughout the world and later is also implemented in Indonesia.
E-Government was introduced in Indonesia through the Presidential Instruction No. 6/2001 on Telematics (Telecommunications, Media and Informatics) passed on April 24, 2001. E-Government is said to be an electronic-based government which will replace the paper-based traditional governance.
The instruction said that government officials must use telematics technology to support good governance and to accelerate the democratic process. Especially in public administration, the internet can be used to provide access for all as the basic service that simplifies the relationship between the people and the government.
The policy on e-Government in Indonesia is followed by the issuance of Presidential Instruction of the Republic of Indonesia No. 3/2003 on National Policy and Strategy for e-Government Development of the Communication and Technology Ministry. Since then, the central government has been officially implementing e-government.
Since then, the data from the Communication and Technology Ministry website in January 2004 shows that there are a total of 225 local government websites (48% of total local governments) and 200 active websites (89% of the total websites). This is a warm welcome from the local governments.
E-Government becomes the new way of the policy-making process and the new means of receiving complaints from the communities. Not only that, but it is also an innovation in improving public services in the field of information services which later becomes an absolute necessity to support data, information exchange, and new distribution quickly and accurately. With these benefits, e-Government is hoped to accelerate the implementation of regional autonomy and increase public trust toward the government.
The objectives of eGovernment are to provide services without the intervention of public institution employees and a long queue system to facilitate a more time and energy-efficient public service; to support good governance; to make it easier for people to get information.
Why Papua needs e-Government
Being the easternmost province in Indonesia might be a challenge when it comes to information access. Therefore, clean, transparent, and efficient governance is an absolute necessity for people of Papua. This is what e-Government can provide. Furthermore, it is a follow up the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) assessment result that shows the low implementation of electronic-based governance.
The need for optimum, fast, convenient, and affordable public service becomes the main concern for people in Papua. This is needed, especially in terms of efficiency, speed of information delivery, affordability, and transparency of public service delivery because the improvements in public service make the economy flourishes.
E-Government will also increase transparency and accountability of public institutions so that the potential for corruption can be reduced. The public can expand their participation as e-Government enables the public to be actively involved in decision/policy-making by the provincial government.
The implementation of e-Government in Papua and West Papua
In Papua, e-Government has been implemented in districts and cities. It also has become a common practice among Regional Organizations (OPD). The integrated e-Government is implemented through the provincial government’s website, papua.go.id.
On the other hand, West Papua provincial government—led by the government assistant Musa Kamudi with his team—conducted a comparative study to learn about e-Government from the Papua government in May 2019. This receives a warm welcome from the Papua government.
As a form of commitment in implementing e-Government, the Papua and West Papua Provinces signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) supporting the implementation of e-Government. The West Papua Provincial Government conducted an MoU in support of e-Government implementation and submission of E-PPR and E-PPA sources wth the Papua Provincial Government.
West Papua provincial government is introduced to the e-Government-based government management system in terms of public services such as a business licensing system for the private business sector. The system is called e-Papua Perijinan Online. They also start learning e-Planning and e-Budgeting with SIMDA application.
This effort is being made to implement clean and transparent governance to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the program and budget evaluation process. This online system can prevent potential leakage and abuse to prevent corruption within the Papua provincial government. This system requires hard work and commitment from the local government.
Implementing e-Government in Papua is not without difficulties. Some inhibiting factors are the website creator, availability of technological information personnel, availability of supporting facilities, and the public perception towards e-Government.
Some districts or cities in Papua create their official regional websites using third parties. As a result, they still depend on the third party when it comes to uploading the data. Furthermore, the lack of availability of TI human resources in each district or city results in hiring non-civil servants to maintain regional websites. The hard-to-reach Papua’s geographical condition makes the internet connection unstable, resulting in disruption on the website.