FTUI Student Reveals How Digital Public Services Can Curb Abuse of Office
Government digital transformation is considered to require accompanying implementation of digital public services that are effective, transparent, and integrated, in order to drive improvements in governance and to curb corruption.
This was disclosed in a thesis by Alexander Widyastanto Utomo, a student of the Master of Management in Telecommunications programme at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Indonesia (FTUI). In his study, Alexander analysed the relationship between government digital transformation and corruption control using econometric methods based on global data.
The study used panel data from more than 200 countries and territories for the period 2003 to 2024. A number of indicators were used, including the E-Government Development Index (EGDI), levels of corruption control, internet usage, and fixed-line subscriptions, to examine the link between digital infrastructure development and the quality of governance.
The results indicate that advances in e-government contribute positively to corruption control and governance improvement. Digitalisation of public services is seen not only as part of technological modernisation but also as playing a role in creating a government system that is more transparent, effective, and accountable.
On the other hand, the study found that the development of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, such as increased internet usage and telephony, does not directly impact the quality of corruption control. Digital infrastructure is regarded more as a supporting factor, while the implementation of e-government is the main aspect that determines the effectiveness of governance and the transparency of public services.
“Digital transformation is not only about introducing technology, but about how that technology can improve the public service delivery process to be more transparent, accountable, and less prone to abuse,” said Alexander in a statement on Thursday.