Social Aid Digitalisation Trial Expanded to 143 Regencies/Cities

The government is expanding the trial for the digitalisation of social protection and aid (bansos) from 43 to 143 regencies and cities this year. However, the programme still faces challenges, including low smartphone ownership among target communities and data security risks.

Director General of Population and Civil Registration at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Teguh Setyobudi, stated that the trial in Banyuwangi, East Java, showed only around 9 to 10 percent of social aid recipients owned a smartphone. To address this, the government is preparing a mentoring scheme for residents who do not have devices to access the Digital Population Identity (IKD).

Teguh explained that the mentors for the community will come from local civil servants, district and sub-district officials, neighbourhood and community unit heads (RT/RW), and assistants from the Family Hope Programme (PKH). They will help verify the identities of aid recipients who do not have smartphones.

Beyond public readiness, the government is also anticipating data security risks in the implementation of the digital system. Teguh noted that data protection is a major concern, as the integration of population data opens up potential threats from cyber attacks. System security is being handled through the Government Digital Transformation Acceleration Committee, which involves the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Communication and Digital, the Ministry of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform, the National Development Planning Agency, the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN).

To prepare the pilot areas, the government has formed regional coordinators tasked with assisting local governments. The assistance includes providing facilities and infrastructure, training officials, and ensuring the commitment of local governments to run the programme. The government is targeting all preparations in the pilot areas to be completed by October 2026, with the nationwide launch of social protection digitalisation planned for the end of the year.

Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives Commission II, Aria Bima, highlighted that the digitalisation of social protection still carries risks that the government must anticipate. He stated that the expansion of the programme to 143 regencies and cities must be accompanied by regional readiness so that the new system does not create new problems.