JAKARTA. Greater transparency could lead to wider public participation, which is needed for good governance, a senior official has said.

Assistant to the administrative and bureaucratic reform minister for public services, Diah Natalisa, said transparency was in line with one of the government’s top priorities, namely open government management.

“Public input is very effective in monitoring the delivery of public services,” said Diah on Wednesday. She was speaking in a discussion to evaluate progress toward greater transparency in governance nationwide.

Diah further said not all government institutions had implemented open data programs; hence, the ministry was striving to persuade all of the institutions to prioritize transparency by providing the public with access to data they had.

Jakarta Communication, Information and Public Relations Agency head Diah Ekowati said the city administration had followed the government’s instructions on the implementation of an open data system in its Jakarta Smart City program.

“The concept of the program refers to six indicators: environment, transportation, government, economy, human resources and housing,” Diah said.

She further said the city administration had developed a public reporting app called Qlue as part of the Smart City program. Through the app, citizens can make complaints about Jakarta’s conditions and receive an immediate response from concerned parties in the city administration.

“We have received reports such as photos of rivers with piles of garbage and we have responded  by sending teams to clean the rivers,” said Diah. (rdi/ebf)

Editor: Sanny Cicilia