Government Digitises Birth Certificates, Integrates Public Services
The government has launched a digital birth certificate service integrated with healthcare facilities. The service is designed to simplify population administration processes once birth data is recorded at a health facility.
The launch was symbolically carried out by the Chairman of the Government Digital Transformation Acceleration Committee, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Home Affairs Minister Muhammad Tito Karnavian, and Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin at the Pasar Minggu Community Health Centre in Jakarta on Tuesday (11/8).
Through this integration, the issuance of birth certificates for the public can be processed more quickly. The development of this digital service is part of strengthening the Electronic-Based Government System (SPBE).
According to Tito, population data is a crucial foundation for government digital services because it is continuously updated according to demographic events in the regions. “Districts and cities directly serve the community and they are connected to the Dukcapil server. So there are births, deaths, people moving, single statuses, new entries, and so on. It moves every minute,” he said in a written statement on Tuesday (11/8).
He added that the utilisation of population data is now widespread and used by thousands of users from various government agencies and other sectors. The integration with various data sources is claimed to support easier, more accurate, and better-targeted public services.
One of its uses, Tito said, is to support the distribution of social assistance to ensure it is better targeted. Population data can be matched with various other data sources so the government has a more complete picture of the beneficiaries’ conditions. “If it is explained by the village head or perhaps by the regent for inclusion as a beneficiary from the Ministry of Social Affairs, Rp600,000 in cash from the Family Hope Programme, 10 kg of rice, if it’s all connected, it will be known,” he said.
The experience of integrating this data is one of the foundations for developing population administration services connected to the health sector. Tito welcomed the Health Ministry’s initiative to integrate the SATUSEHAT platform with the Population Administration Information System (SIAK), specifically for issuing birth certificates.
Through this integration, the administrative process that previously required parents to manage documents in stages, from the neighbourhood level to the population administration service office, can now be cut short. Birth data recorded at a health facility can be directly connected to the population administration system. “Directly connected, on the day of birth we immediately issue the birth certificate,” Tito stressed.
He added that digitally issued birth certificates can be delivered to parents through the health facility where the child was born or through available communication channels. This step is expected to reduce the waiting time that the public has complained about.
This digitalisation does not only target births that take place in health facilities. The government will also strengthen the reporting mechanism for births that occur outside health facilities so they are still recorded in the population administration.