Enhance Data Managers' Capacity, Dirjen Dukcapil: Strong Infrastructure Is Not Enough Without Reliable Human Resources

The Director General (Dirjen) of Population and Civil Registration (Dukcapil) at the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri), Teguh Setyabudi, emphasised that strengthening human resources (HR) is the primary key in managing population data in the digital era. According to him, strong infrastructure will not yield optimal results without adequate HR capacity.

He conveyed this during the Capacity Enhancement for Population Data Managers for Provincial and District/City Dukcapil Officials Year 2026 Batch I event at Savero Hotel, Depok, West Java, on Wednesday, 6 May 2026.

In his remarks, Teguh stressed that population system development should not only focus on strengthening infrastructure such as servers, networks, and cybersecurity, but must also be balanced with HR readiness as the primary managers.

“If the network infrastructure and cybersecurity are strong but the HR is weak, what does that mean?” he asserted firmly.

He explained that this event is part of ongoing efforts to enhance the capacity of Dukcapil apparatus in line with the acceleration of digital transformation being implemented. Through the Dukcapil Go Digital policy, the utilisation of information technology becomes a primary need that must be balanced with the apparatus’s ability to manage and utilise it optimally.

“If it’s already Go Digital, that means… the utilisation of IT [is] very urgent,” he stated.

Furthermore, Teguh emphasised that population data holds a strategic position as the main foundation in government administration and public services.

“Dukcapil data covers, becomes the basis… [and] backbone for all services; we underpin all public services,” he clarified.

According to him, population data is not only used for administrative services but also serves as a reference in development planning, aid distribution, up to the implementation of general elections (Pemilu) and regional head elections (Pilkada). In that context, the implementation of the Population Identification Number (NIK) as a single identity number continues to be strengthened to support cross-sector utilisation.

Teguh also outlined the achievements in population data recording, which show a positive trend. Based on data from the second semester of 2025, Indonesia’s population reached around 288 million people, with electronic ID recording having exceeded 97 percent of the total eligible ID holders. That figure is estimated to continue increasing along with the population now exceeding 289 million people.