Applying digitalization in Indonesia seems to be the right decision by the government. Even though the trend has yet covered all lines of services, at least two of the concepts, e-Tendering and e-Catalog, have successfully saved 40% of government’s expenses budget.
At least Agus Rahardjo, LKPP’s Head, admitted it. He stated that the most of the savings derived from unused transportation and accommodation budget, as everything is done online.
Rahardjo, as being cited from Tribun News, stated:
“We save money, we only need to sit and let everything works by itself. Since 2008, the e-Tendering concept has let us saving up p to 10 percent, or Rp 6,2 trillion. Meanwhile, e-Catalog lets us saving up to 30 to 40 percent.”
LKPP expects this digital initiative to grow further, as it encourages the government to do online shopping. This year, the total shopping done by the government is expected to reach Rp 850 trillion, in which Rp 50 trillion derives from e-Catalog and the rest Rp 800 trillion from e-Tendering.
“Last year, we reached Rp 300-400 trillion, in which e-Catalog and e-Tendering contributed less then Rp 15 trillion. Today, I saw this morning that the amount of e-purchasing has reached Rp 1,76 trillion,” Rahardjo ended.
e-Catalog and e-Tendering indeed are government’s latest upgrade. Even though it results on the instability in inter-institution relations, this digital system allows the public to watch the government’s financial activities live, thus reducing the possibilities of corruption, collusion, and nepotism regarding government’s procurement process.
It’s time for Indonesia to start giving more portion for such services, as we have already possessed the required human resources to run such campaigns. It’s now all up to the government, whether they do really want to eradicate the practices of corruption or not.
