JAKARTA: The Indonesian government will develop a super application integrating all online services provided by ministries and state agencies, and require every family to have a bank account for timely distribution of social assistance, said Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, chairman of the National Economic Council.
President Prabowo Subianto is set to launch the GovTech (Government Technology) super app during the country’s Independence Day celebrations on Aug 17 this year, Luhut said on Wednesday (Mar 19), reported news outlet Jakarta Globe.
“The president wants to introduce GovTech as a centralised platform that will unify all ministerial and state agency applications, improving efficiency and reducing opportunities for corruption,” said Luhut after a meeting with the president and economic ministers at the State Palace in Jakarta.
The president will be meeting hundreds of young web developers who played a crucial role in creating GovTech, he added.
Based on the government’s initial calculations, the digitalisation could save 100 trillion rupiah (US$6 billion) in “unnecessary spending”, Luhut said.
The cost of developing the super app and integrating online services was not disclosed in media reports, but it is not the first time Indonesia’s leaders have spoken about streamlining public services.
In May last year, then-president Joko Widodo ordered government officials to stop developing new mobile applications. He also kickstarted an initiative called INA Digital to integrate the systems and data of approximately 27,000 apps operated by various ministries and regional administrations.
According to Jakarta Globe, the GovTech super app will serve four main functions.
It will focus on maximising state revenue collection by streamlining online tax payments and ensuring proper collection of royalties from the mineral and coal sectors.
It aims to improve the efficiency of state spending by enabling real-time monitoring of state projects, as well as data-driven evaluation of vendors.
The app will centralise essential public services including citizenship administration, drivers’ licences, passports and access to education and healthcare.
It will also simplify the distribution of government aid, with financial handouts directly transferred to individuals’ bank accounts linked to the GovTech app.
Lastly, the super app seeks to improve the process of getting business licences through the enhancement of the Online Single Submission system.
This will improve Indonesia’s competitiveness and promote the growth of small and medium enterprises.
Investors’ confidence in Indonesia has been shaken by the country’s budget recording an early year deficit in January and February 2025, and state revenues declining about 20 per cent.
Questions also linger over other policy moves such as the launch of Danantara, a new sovereign wealth fund that will manage the assets of all state-owned enterprises including three of Indonesia’s largest banks.
Earlier this year, President Prabowo announced a 256 trillion rupiah (US$15.54 billion) budget cut for ministries and state agencies, along with a 50 trillion rupiah reduction in central government transfers to regional administrations. The steep cuts dented staff morale and will have wide-ranging impacts, from reduced road maintenance to the lack of funds to assist victims of violence.
