City governments throughout Indonesia, as the vanguard of public services in the context of urbanization and regional development, are facing increasingly complex challenges. The rate of population growth, economic expansion, and urban community expectations for fast, transparent, and digital public services are putting pressure on the bureaucratic capacity of cities in Indonesia.
Some of the main challenges faced include:
- The high burden of basic administrative services such as licensing, population, social, and environmental, which are still mostly carried out manually or semi-digitally at the sub-district and district levels.
- The inequality of literacy and adoption of digital technology among ASN, especially outside the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, which has resulted in low utilization of technology to improve work efficiency and service innovation.
- The need for bureaucratic transformation that is able to answer the dynamics of a digitally literate or digital-savvy society and the challenges of a smart city, but has not been supported by the readiness of Human Resources (HR) and evenly distributed digital infrastructure.
In facing these challenges, the use of cutting-edge technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) paves the way for city governments to make leaps in governance. AI can be used to accelerate work processes, improve the quality of data-based decision-making, and strengthen public services that are more predictive, responsive, and efficient.
However, to optimize the potential of AI in the context of city government, it is necessary to strengthen the capacity of the State Civil Apparatus (ASN) at various levels, both technical and strategic. ASN needs to be equipped not only with an understanding of basic AI concepts, but also practical skills in designing AI-based solutions that are relevant to the needs of each city.
The Association of Indonesia Municipalities (APEKSI) in collaboration with BINAR, the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) and Microsoft as part of the commitment to produce 1 million AI talents in Indonesia is organizing the GARUDA-APEKSI: AI Scholarship for City ASN program which is focused on ASN as participants, to:
- Increase literacy and practical understanding of AI for city government ASN.
- Develop skills in designing AI-based solutions for efficient public services.
Objectives of the GARUDA-APEKSI Program
This program is designed with the aim of:
- Understanding the Concept & Implementation of AI in Governance.
- Basic Skills for Implementing AI in Public Services.
- International Benchmark: Best Practices AI in Government.
Through this initiative, it is hoped that the city government can become a pioneer in implementing AI in the public sector, while accelerating the agenda of inclusive and sustainable digital transformation of local government.
Activities
