JAKARTA – The Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform (PANRB) will strengthen the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) policy and expand its implementation through cooperation with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the Tony Blair Institute (TBI).
“The meeting between the Ministry of PANRB and BMGF representatives aims to discuss the follow-up to the meeting in Singapore on DPI and its relationship with financial inclusion,” said Minister of PANRB Abdullah Azwar Anas in a meeting with BMGF and TBI representatives in Jakarta, Tuesday (23/7).
Anas explained that the Ministry of PANRB is currently coordinating the acceleration of Government Digital Transformation through Presidential Regulation No. 82/2023 which integrates priority digital public services and early stage DPI with the National Portal as the basic infrastructure for digital services.
The ministry’s mission is aligned with one of the BMGF pillars relating to financial inclusion and DPI. By leveraging DPI, the ministry seeks to optimize operational cost efficiency, improve accessibility, and ensure targeted assistance.
“Hopefully today’s meeting can be a good step towards strong collaboration for the optimisation of DPI in supporting financial inclusion in Indonesia, especially at the practical level in the regions,” Anas added.
Indonesia Country Lead of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Brooke Patterson said that his organization has been promoting financial inclusion in Indonesia for more than a decade. Similar to other countries, the commitment to digitalisation is a political decision in Indonesia that needs support from various parties.
The concrete results expected are electronic payments, effective distribution of social assistance, grants, and subsidies. “DPI and Digital ID can help facilitate the targeting of various social assistance,” he said.
Furthermore, the Ministry of PANRB is proposing cooperation to conduct pilot projects at the regional level to test the implementation of digital payments as part of the DPI.
This will help support the government’s digital transformation, increase digital economic growth, and significantly advance the welfare of the Indonesian people.
“We hope that cooperation at the regional level can take place next year,” Brook concluded.
