en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Indonesian government plans to digitize social assistance by 2026 as part of the GovTech initiative. A pilot program will launch in Banyuwangi in September.

Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Chairman of the National Economic Council (DEN) and the Digital Reform Committee, stated: "If everything goes smoothly, we will launch nationwide in 2026. It is indeed being implemented gradually while observing shortcomings in various regions." By using GovTech, the distribution of social assistance will be more targeted. The government will conduct re-data collection and use biometric data, including facial recognition or biometric identification, to more accurately identify beneficiaries, thereby reducing errors in social assistance targeting or cash transfers to a very low level.

The pilot also includes improving the accuracy of DTSEN-based social assistance targeting and achieving interoperability with other data, such as health data, employment data, and asset data. Eligible citizens can register through a dedicated portal or with assistance and receive application results along with the reasons. The government hopes this pilot will encourage other regions to voluntarily become implementation sites for priority digital transformation use cases, one of which is related to social protection.

Previously, Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf noted that after the full implementation of digitalized social assistance, the state budget is expected to save up to IDR 14 trillion annually. He stated that the digital system makes the distribution of social assistance more accurate, transparent, and accountable, allowing state funds to be saved and truly reach eligible citizens. This social assistance will be integrated through the National Social Protection Portal, serving as a registration and verification platform for social assistance beneficiaries. Citizens can register themselves or on behalf of others as potential social assistance beneficiaries using Digital Population Identity (IKD). For citizens without mobile phones, registration can be done through PKH assistants, who help collect the citizen's biometric information. The system will automatically verify during registration and subsequently display the status of whether the citizen is eligible for social assistance.

This article is compiled by Wedoany. All AI citations must indicate the source as "Wedoany". If there is any infringement or other issues, please notify us promptly, and we will modify or delete it accordingly. Email: news@wedoany.com