JakartaPost-Oct 6
The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved the Satu Data Indonesia (One Data Indonesia) law aimed at addressing fragmented government data and establishing a national baseline data set for policymaking, budgeting and social assistance. Speaking before the plenary session, House Legislative Body (Baleg) deputy chairman Sturman Panjaitan said the Satu Data Law would help integrate data from various government agencies, including ministries and regional administrations, into an interoperable national system. Such an ecosystem would help ensure more transparent and accountable policymaking while improving efficiency and the quality of public services, he said. “A single set of data and a common reference framework would improve interoperability. Despite the diverse sources, there is but one truth,” Sturman said at the meeting. “The law rests on two constitutional rights that must be balanced: the right of citizens to obtain information for personal protection, and expanding the dimensions of national resilience,” he continued, arguing that a more precise data system could also support national security planning. Under the new law, a Satu Data Indonesia organizer will be established and report directly to the president. The organizer will coordinate the country’s data governance, including the roles of data coaches, data producers and data custodians. The public will also be able to participate in improving the system by providing input, reporting data misuse, participating in oversight and voluntarily contributing data. Indonesia has long struggled to collect and coordinate data across its many regions, with institutions often relying on scattered and sometimes contradictory figures. This has posed challenges for authorities seeking reliable data for policymaking, while keeping datasets updated and consistent across institutions has remained another hurdle. One persistent problem stemming from fragmented government data is the inaccurate targeting of social assistance, with eligible households left out while ineligible recipients remain on beneficiary lists. In 2025, the government removed approximately 1.9 million people from the Family Hope Program (PKH) and food assistance after a data verification process found they were no longer eligible. The government said the process also identified exclusion errors, in which eligible people were left off beneficiary lists. Read more at:
