One Data Indonesia as the Foundation for an Equitable Digital State
In the era of digital government, data has become the foundation for determining development direction, distributing social assistance, formulating budgets, and evaluating state performance. However, national data governance has so far been fragmented, with each agency developing its own databases using different standards, leading to overlapping policies, inaccurate programme targeting, and low interoperability between institutions. This situation demonstrates that Indonesia’s development problem is not merely a lack of data, but the absence of a system capable of accurately, currently, and accountably unifying data.
Awareness of this problem prompted the Legislative Body of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) to draft a Bill on One Data Indonesia (RUU SDI). The presence of this regulation is intended to strengthen the legal foundation, which has so far only relied on Presidential Regulation Number 39 of 2019 concerning One Data Indonesia. The Minister of National Development Planning/Head of Bappenas, Rachmat Pambudy, emphasised that development planning, as mandated in Article 31 of Law Number 25 of 2004, must be based on accurate and accountable data and information. Therefore, the RUU SDI is expected to become a strategic instrument so that every state policy is formulated based on the same, precise, valid, and cross-sectorally integrated data.
Nevertheless, the success of the One Data Indonesia Bill cannot be measured solely by its ability to integrate national data. An equitable digital state also requires strong protection of citizens’ rights, especially the right to privacy and personal data protection. Data integration can improve the effectiveness of public services, but simultaneously increases the risk of access misuse, data leaks, and excessive surveillance if not accompanied by strict accountability mechanisms. One of the main urgencies of the RUU SDI is to build an evidence-based policy-making process. So far, differences in sources, definitions, and data standards between agencies have often produced different figures for the same object, causing development planning and government programme evaluations to not always run optimally.
The RUU SDI aims to strengthen data governance, directing the implementation of One Data Indonesia so that all government data meets the principles of being accurate, current, integrated, accountable, and easily accessible and shareable according to authority. Through uniform data standards and cross-sector interoperability, the government seeks to realise a single source of truth, so that every public policy is formulated based on the same data reference and is no longer overshadowed by sectoral egos between agencies. Integrated data is not merely an administrative instrument but a foundation for realising fairer and more targeted public services. Valid data allows the state to identify who is entitled to receive assistance, which regions need development interventions, and which vulnerable groups require greater protection.
The transformation towards One Data Indonesia not only relates to bureaucratic efficiency but also touches on the dimension of human rights. In a democratic rule-of-law state, personal data is not just a state asset or digital commodity, but part of the right to privacy inherent in every individual. Therefore, every process of collecting, storing, utilising, and exchanging data must be placed within a framework of respecting, protecting, and fulfilling human rights. The state indeed has an interest in presenting integrated data, but this interest must not override citizens’ constitutional rights to the security and confidentiality of personal data. This perspective is in line with Article 28G paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, which guarantees every person’s right to personal, family, honour, dignity, and property protection, as well as a sense of security from threats. This constitutional guarantee is then reinforced through Law Number 27 of 2022 concerning Personal Data Protection, which places personal data protection as part of human rights protection.
This means the development of the One Data Indonesia system must be built on the principles of legality, purpose limitation, data processing security, transparency, accountability, and respect for the rights of data subjects. Thus, the RUU SDI needs to ensure that data interoperability not only connects systems between institutions but also provides an effective protection mechanism against potential access misuse and data leaks. Arrangements regarding access authority, recording of every data exchange activity (audit trail), limitation of use according to purpose, and strict sanctions for violations are elements that cannot be ignored. Data integration will gain public legitimacy if built on the trust that the state is not only capable of managing data effectively but is also responsible for protecting the rights of every citizen.