The Surabaya Transportation Agency’s head of traffic engineering, Joko Supriyanto, gives an explanation to students of SD Muhammadiyah 6 Surabaya state elementary school at the Surabaya Intelligent Transport System Building in Surabaya, East Java, on Tuesday (7/11/2018). Besides introducing the city’s e-tickeing system, he also explained the importance of obeying traffic regulations.
SURABAYA, KOMPAS - Making a breakthrough to solve urban problems and utilizing technology to improve the welfare of the people and the participation of the citizens are among the public policies that secure the top ranks in the Indonesian Smart Cities Index.
"Community participation in building smart cities is very vital. If they [the people] do not use and do not feel the direct impact, it means the solution is not smart," the mayor of Surabaya, East Java, Tri Rismaharini, said in Surabaya on Friday.
The Surabaya administration has the slogan "Light of Java" in developing smart city concepts. The slogan reflects a city that is comfortable to live in, investment friendly, green and trustworthy. There are several policies to support the implementation of a smart city in Surabaya. They, among others, include electronic-based public services, waste utilization, energy efficiency and the development of rural areas.
The city uses the Surabaya Intelligent Transport System to regulate traffic in order to reduce congestion. The electronic-based licensing and financial reporting are introduced to save the expenses of the community and related agencies.
"A year, the saving from paper spending alone can reach Rp 29 billion [US$1.99 million]," she said.
Meanwhile, Yogyakarta, according to the deputy mayor of Yogyakarta, Heroe Poerwadi, has used an application called the Jogja Smart Service to facilitate public services.
The application can be used by residents to obtain permits through an online platform, such as building licenses, billboard permits, micro business licenses, boarding permits and location permits for street vendors.
In addition, the application can also be used to pay taxes, get hearse services, report emergencies such as traffic accidents or fires, and submit complaints and inputs to the municipal government.
In Semarang, Central Java, according to Semarang Mayor Hendrar Prihadi, the local government has introduced an electronic based tax information platform called e-PBB to check property and building (PBB) tax bills.
The Denpasar administration in Bali has also used a technology to receive feedback and complaints from the community, so that it can solve community problems well and quickly.
"In essence, promoting inclusiveness in public services," said Denpasar Mayor Ida Bagus Rai Dharmawijaya Mantra.
The Malang government did the same by establishing the Malang Command Center. The public’s complaints are monitored in the system, which is integrated with social media.
According to Malang Mayor Sutiaji, the city administration has established a good communication with the community and has provided gathering spaces for the people such as city parks, so they could interact, discuss and at the same promote the creativity of young people by building their network.
Tolerance
The mayor of Salatiga, Yulianto, said that all the developments in Salatiga in Central Java could not be separated from the effort to make the citizens cleaver, healthy and fulfilled. Thus, it can improve the level of social cohesion so that the people cannot be easily provoked. Salatiga is known as one of most tolerant cities in Indonesia.
As a small city with a population of less than 100,000 people, Padang tries to further improve the health of the local people through the issuance of Regional Regulation No. 8/2009 on non-smoking areas. The regulation was renewed in 2014 and implemented in 2016 to give sanctions against violators.
According to the mayor of Padang Panjang, Fadly Amran, the city’s success in the Smart Cities Index (IKCI) is a challenge to create new solutions to the problems faced by the people. It relies on infrastructure readiness.
"We are improving infrastructure facilities in stages," Fadly said on Friday.
Starting in 2019, a command center will be built to promote communication between government offices and related organizations in the region. Meanwhile, people are also encouraged to develop various information technology-based businesses, such as smart shops, smart micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and smart homestays. ( SYA/ ETA/ DIT/ COK/ DIA/HRS/ZAK)