Jakarta (ANTARA) - Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Abdullah Azwar Anas has said that his ministry is seeking to emulate the United Kingdom (UK) and Estonia in integrating public services platforms in Indonesia.

The United Kingdom has successfully integrated its 2 thousand public services websites into one, he noted adding, the Indonesian authorities must now start integrating the existing 27 thousand applications in a similar fashion.

"The President (Joko Widodo) has instructed that no new application will be allowed. There should not be one new application for an innovation," Anas informed here on Tuesday.

He said that a large number of public services platforms will burden the people and complicate efforts to make public services accessible.

President Widodo has also instructed the ministry to coordinate the Electronic-based Government System (SPBE) implementation, he added.

"We are now seeking to integrate those stand-alone applications into one (platform). We have also study other countries (and we found) that the current trend is digital public infrastructure," the minister stated.

Anas explained that the three keys in digital public infrastructure development are integration, digital ID, and data exchange.

He added that his ministry will collaborate with the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) to carry out the integration.

Meanwhile, the minister highlighted that Indonesia's efforts to implement the SPBE were commended by former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair during his visit to the ministry's office last March.

During the visit, Blair said that public services integration is a correct step to bolster achievements through digitization, which, for instance, would expedite the process of handling complaints.

Anas said that besides the United Kingdom, he was also invited to visit Estonia, where the digital government services coverage has reached 99 percent.

One percent of public services that are not conducted digitally in the country concern divorce handling, he informed.

Estonia's national portal, he explained, does not classify services by government ministries or agencies, and directly displays the services provided.

For instance, if residents require social assistance, they can directly access the relevant menu instead of accessing the relevant ministry's portal first.

Indonesia is seeking to achieve the same goal as Estonia, Anas said, adding that a presidential regulation on government technology is expected to be completed next week.

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Translator: Narda Margaretha, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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