Surabaya City Government and Komdigi Socialise Digital Social Protection System

The Surabaya City Government, together with the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) of the Republic of Indonesia, is socialising the Integrated Digital Social Protection (Perlinsos Digital) system to residents.

Wijayakusuma Wardana, Expert Staff to the Minister for Social, Economic, and Cultural Affairs at Komdigi, stated in Surabaya on Thursday that this socialisation is part of a trial implementation of Perlinsos Digital for residents within Deciles 1 to 4. “The purpose of this socialisation is to integrate the distribution of social assistance (Bansos) from the central government to ensure it is accurately targeted,” he said.

During the trial and socialisation process, Wardana noted that several obstacles occurred when residents attempted to register for the system. He emphasised that continuous testing will be conducted to minimise future issues. “We have identified these obstacles and found solutions; thankfully, they are now operational. Continuous training and testing must be carried out, both for agents and for independent users,” he added. Wardana expressed hope that the successful implementation of Perlinsos Digital would allow for trials in other regions, ensuring social assistance is accurate in target, amount, and timing.

Mensuseno, Acting Director of IDLN at the Directorate General of Population and Civil Registration (Dukcapil) of the Ministry of Home Affairs, noted that Surabaya has been selected as one of the pilot cities for Perlinsos Digital by the central government. Under this scheme, social assistance recipients do not necessarily need to own electronic devices, as the city government has prepared agents or assisting civil servants (ASN) to assist residents with the registration process. Those with mobile phones can also register independently.

Eddy Christijanto, Head of the Surabaya City Communication and Informatics Office (Diskominfo), confirmed that the city government has prepared approximately 12,500 agents, including neighbourhood heads (RT/RW) and civil servants, to facilitate registration. “For residents who do not yet have Digital Identity (IKD) or do not have compatible mobile phones, they can register through these Perlinsos agents. Regardless of whether they have IKD, everyone is entitled to register. The role of these agents is to assist residents who lack the necessary equipment in completing their registration,” said Eddy.