Introduction

-government, based on The World Bank definition is the use of information technology by government offices for better services to people, business and to facilitate cooperation among government institutions. The use of E-government is expected to empower the community through public access to information resources available.

Based on the above definition, there are at least three important parts in the application of e-government. Firstly, e-government provides services and facilitates communication between government and communities. Secondly, e-government provides services and facilitates communication between government and business sector. Thirdly, e-government facilitates communication in intergovernmental and among government institutions.

E-Government in Indonesia : Current Status and Issues

In Indonesia, e-government was officially introduced to public administration by Presidential Directive No 6/2001 on Telematics, which states that the government of Indonesia has to use telematics technology to support good governance. Furthermore, e-government should have been introduced for different purposes in government offices.

In Indonesia, E-government is needed  for the following reasons: 1) to support the government change towards a democratic governance practices; 2) to support the application of authority balances between central and local government; 3) to facilitate communication between central and local governments; 4) to gain openness; and 5) transformation towards information society era.

Changes are expected to build clean and transparant government which is capable to respond the changes effectively, to build a new dimension  into organization, management system and process, and soon applying the transformation process towards e-government.

Online services will motivate people to recognize internet. The government could disseminate the information through website. E-government could also become a strategic tool for controlling. A Bupati  (Head Of Regency Level) for example could see the tax this year and compared to data the year before. He also could see if a company is progressing and tax has been paid.

Data and information could be useful and providing invaluable added values if it is managed integratively by a national information center. All developing information center available could be functioned as nodes to national center. The national center is then integrating various sectoral information centers, government owned or private.

In the era of regional autonomy, at present more than 23 of 265 regencies throughout Indonesia are preparing E-government network. Fourteen of them  are located in Denpasar, Gianyar, Sulawesi, Gorontalo, and Semarang. In Takalar regency- South Sulawesi and East Kutai- East Kalimantan provinces, the implementation of E-government has been initiated by government in collaboration with Indonesia Telecommunication Company and has been developed since September 2000. And therefore the people at these two regencies have used them and enjoyed better services. Among of the information provided by these two regencies are Geographic Information System (GIS) and Management Information System (MIS). These information have been used for  promotion of investment to some developed countries.

Strategy for Development 

Based on strategic plan of the State Ministry of Communication and Information, there are some strategic plan to develop e-government as follows:

1)       To develop a good service system with reasonable cost. The focus are to extend and improve the quality of information and communication network, to build the information portals and integrated public services, to build the electronic document management system, standardization and information security system;

2)       To develop management system of central and local government. The focus are to improve the quality of services needed by the community, to manage the changes, to enforce the leadership and to improve the product of the regulation.

3)       To optimize the use of information technology.  The focus are on building the interoperability, standardization and procedure of electronic document management system, information security, basic application (e-billing, e-reporting) and to develop intergovernment network.

4)       To improve the participation of private sector and information technology industry. The focus  are to use the expertise of the private sector, to encourage participation of private sector and small industries.

5)       To develop manpower capacity in the central and local government. The objectives are to develop ICT culture in government institutions, to optimize the use of ICT training facilities, to extend the use of ICT for distant learning, and to put ICT as input for school curriculum and to improve the quality of teaching.

E-STANDARDIZATION : For better services

As part of using the data communication technology to facilitate standardization development in  Indonesia, there are needs for strategies that can direct the development of e-standardization.  In developing the strategies, it is important to bear in mind that the technology is only means to achieve the objectives, not the objectives themselves. 

With more than 220 millions people living in thousand of islands, the levels of information technology capabilities and accessibility vary.  People living in major cities may be able to use the technology easily.  However many others living in rural areas may have difficulty in even accessing the communication technology.  Nevertheless computer technology is becoming common technology.  Therefore information is not only provided as online, but also in electronic media such as CD-ROM  and in printed papers.  The advantage of electronic media is the low cost of delivery as a CD-ROM can contain a lot of information which otherwise may need hundreds of pages of papers.

As one of ISO member countries, Indonesia gives more attention to facilitate the activities of standardization. Among of the facilities provided are building the National information system of standardization (SISTANAS) and Indonesia Standardization Information Network (INSTANET).

1.         SISTANAS

Sistanas is an information system to support the process of making National standards of Indonesia (SNI), and to facilitate e-balloting. The idea is to reduce the time response by means of electronic data communication.  The system enables stake holders to submit documents and comments electronically.

In standards formulation, four steps should be done before a standard is approved as an SNI.  Firstly, the first proposed draft is submitted to the Technical Committee.  This draft is called RSNI1.  After the Technical Committee agrees on the draft,  allowing of some modification if necessary, it is then submitted to preconsensus meeting as RSNI2.  The participants of this meeting is more general than the Technical Committee meeting, involving various stake holders.  The result of preconsensus meeting, called RSNI3, is then submitted to the relevant technical institution for consensus meeting, involving various stake holders.  Approval by the meeting means the final draft (RSNI4) is ready for stipulation by BSN.

The four steps are recorded in the form of database and accessible electronically. This information is very useful for standard makers and the community to check the data on the progress of standard formulation.

E-balloting is designed to support the voting process on draft international standards.  When requested to vote by an international standards body, the system can automatically deliver the information to related institutions by means of electronic mails.  Inputs and comments are then processed by BSN.  The result is delivered back electronically to the international standard body.

For compatibility and user friendliness, the system is designed in web or HTML format.  Therefore as long as a user has a browser and is connected to the internet, he or she can access the system.

2.         INSTANET

Instanet is a kind of national information standardization network consisting of 18 institution members in Indonesia where BSN acts as the secretariat.  Currently the 18 nodes are located in Jakarta and West Java. The nodes include different public and private technical institutions in Indonesia.  The main activities are to work together, and share resources to provide necessary information related to standards.

Most of the nodes have websites, and each website has links pointed to others.  This way, any user can have better access to search any information required related to standards and conformity assessment in Indonesia.

Conclusion

E-government in Indonesia is developing, especially  in some central and regional/local government offices. The activities are not only to cover the communication but for administrative and public service area as well. The State Minister of Communication and Information is formally in charge of e-government development in Indonesia. Hence, some strategies are being developed for better application of e-government.  Working together to share resources is one of suggested recommendations for better application of e-government in the future. 

The use of information and communication technology also applies in standardization area, in particular for providing information services.  BSN is currently developing an information system that can better support the process of standard formulation and voting on international standards.  Cooperation with other technical institutions is established for better information services by resources sharing and avoiding duplication of works.

Tisyo Haryono, Y. Kristianto Widiwardono

BSN, Indonesia