Digital Transformation Committee Discusses Bureaucracy Digitalisation with Tony Blair

The Digital Transformation Acceleration Committee (KPTDP), chaired by Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, met with former UK Prime Minister and Executive Chairman of the Tony Blair Institute, Tony Blair, at the National Energy Council office on Monday. The meeting focused on efforts to accelerate bureaucratic digitalisation to improve the quality of public services. Luhut stated that digitalisation, combined with the application of artificial intelligence (AI), helps integrate various sectors and provides solutions to problems on the ground. The implementation of digital public infrastructure (DPI) as a technological foundation is believed to facilitate access to public services, with one use case being the social protection system. ‘The implementation of digital government supported by AI is the best solution for executing every priority programme of the President. We do not want to miss the moment, because with digital government, we can be efficient, transparent, and reduce face-to-face interactions,’ Luhut said in a written statement. He added that through digital government, the state is present in a simpler, faster, and more trustworthy manner, representing not just a modernisation of systems but a transformation of the public service experience. The KPTDP has already piloted the digitalisation of social assistance in Banyuwangi Regency and is preparing to expand implementation to 42 districts and cities, including the addition of Batam City and Bali Province. The execution has provided important lessons regarding the acceleration of processes and the strengthening of transparency in the distribution of social aid. Collaboration with Tony Blair and his team is expected to scale up the application of AI in social protection, health, education, and business financing. It also includes strengthening AI governance for security, accountability, and data protection compliance, as well as enhancing the capacity of local government officials regarding digitalisation, ethics, and security. Luhut explained that the focus is on building a safe and trustworthy digital ecosystem for the public and preparing a forthcoming presidential regulation to formalise the digital government framework, as AI plays a vital role in analysing data from digital identities, improving efficiency, and optimising tax revenue. Tony Blair expressed appreciation for Indonesia’s achievements in implementing digital government, noting that every country faces unique challenges, particularly given Indonesia’s large population and archipelagic geography. ‘The most important part of digital government is how the technology is applied. I think Indonesia already has that, where I heard that administrative processes that used to take a long time have been cut down to just a few days,’ Blair said. He added that the streamlining of services in Indonesia is very good, especially considering the country’s size, and that such achievements are not easy. He stressed that human resources must possess strong digital skills and a digital mindset to support successful transformation and expressed openness to assisting Indonesia in various sectors, including digitalisation. Minister of State Apparatus and Bureaucratic Reform Rini Widyantini stated that digital government transformation and development data governance are crucial, supported by the use of DPI as the backbone of various government services. DPI includes digital identity, data exchange, and digital payments, all maintained in line with personal data protection and cybersecurity principles. The digital transformation of social protection integrates digital identity, trusted data exchange, digital payments, and a Social Protection Portal into a unified service flow, aiming not merely to digitise existing processes but to fundamentally redesign service delivery to be simpler, more transparent, accountable, and targeted. She emphasised that this effort is not just about digitalising social assistance but about laying the foundation for a more integrated, transparent, and citizen-centric social protection system, and welcomed the involvement of global partners like TBI in ensuring the sustainability of this transformation.