BSKDN: Data Integration Needed to Develop Smart Cities
Jakarta (ANTARA) — The Domestic Policy Strategy Agency (BSKDN) of the Ministry of Home Affairs said the use of technology and integrated data management are essential to developing Smart Cities.
Smart City initiatives should therefore be tailored to the characteristics and needs of each region, including in addressing poverty and unemployment and managing the environment.
Acting BSKDN Head Raden Gani Muhamad said in a statement in Jakarta on Monday that Smart City development should start with the real problems facing the public.
Innovation, he said, should do more than introduce new technology: it must provide solutions that improve the quality of public services and people’s welfare.
“Innovation is now a strategic instrument for improving government performance, the quality of public services, community empowerment and regional competitiveness,” Gani said when opening the dissemination of findings from a thematic Smart City innovation study in Bogor, West Java, on Friday (23 October).
The study, conducted with Insan Cita Indonesia University, involved Sragen Regency in Central Java and Banjarmasin City in South Kalimantan as target areas, with Banyuwangi Regency and Bandung City as reference areas.
The BSKDN and the research team drew up innovation recommendations across the six Smart City pillars: Smart Governance, Smart Branding, Smart Economy, Smart Living, Smart Society and Smart Environment.
The recommendations include strengthening the integration of social and poverty data, developing digital labour markets, empowering micro-enterprises, integrating maternal and child health data, improving waste management and establishing disaster early-warning systems.
Lukmanul Hakim, representing the university’s study team, said the recommendations were developed by matching the needs of the target areas with good practices from the reference areas. Conditions in each region, he said, must be analysed to ensure that adopted innovations address local problems.
“Although their economic growth is almost similar, the characteristics of the two target areas are very different, so their innovations may also differ,” he said.
He also emphasised that data integration is a foundation for Smart City development. Data held by different institutions needs to be connected and based on common standards so it can support decision-making.
“So data cannot be taken lightly. It really must be properly integrated across every institution, whether in government or the private sector,” Gani said.
Banyuwangi Regency Development Planning Agency head Amir Hidayat also shared the region’s experience with innovation. He said the local government had developed integrated digital services to make it easier for residents to access public services, including through the Smart Kampung programme, which connects villages using information technology.
“Information technology is important infrastructure in Banyuwangi Regency,” Amir said.
He said integrated services were part of the local government’s efforts to strengthen governance and support economic development in the community.
Meanwhile, Said Madrus, an inspector and consultant with the Association of Green Data Centre Professionals, said data centre infrastructure development should take account of energy efficiency and environmental impacts. Growing computing needs also increase electricity demand and produce heat that must be managed.
“The more advanced the technology and the greater its computing capacity, the more electricity it needs and the more heat it generates,” Said said.
He said policies for data centre development should therefore consider environmental factors, so that digital transformation can proceed in line with sustainability principles.
Public policy and public service expert Lely Pelitasari Soebekty said the success of innovation depended not only on technological sophistication, but also on its benefits to the public and ease of use.
She said Smart City planning should provide for transparent information, public participation and channels for complaints. This would help ensure that innovation reaches not only people with easy access to technology, but also groups who still face barriers.