ER
JUDGING from the date on the calendar, today is exactly two months for the state civil service (ASN), especially in the Jakarta area and surrounding areas working from home.
The policy is a step to suppress and break the chain of corona virus spread (COVID-19). Jakarta is the epicenter of this global outbreak, with more than 5,000 positive cases by mid-May.
The Provincial Government of DKI Jakarta since March 14, 2020 has placed restrictions on public areas. Starting from the closure of tourist attractions and entertainment and public transportation. Then from March 16, work from home for private government and state company employees was implemented. Meanwhile, starting April 10, a large-scale social limitation (PSBB) was imposed in Jakarta.
At the same time, a work-at-home policy is also being implemented nationally. This policy was taken by the Ministry of Administrative Reform/Bureaucracy Reform (Ministry of PAN-RB). The policy is valid for two weeks, but given the graph of increasing numbers of people positively exposed to the corona virus continues to increase, several times this policy was extended.
Minister of Administrative Reform and Bureaucracy Reform (PAN-RB) Tjahjo Kumolo on May 12 issued a circular letter extending the work from home (WFH) for ASN as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The period of carrying out official duties at home or residence for ASN is extended to May 29, 2020 and will be further evaluated as needed. This WFH extension is regulated in Circular Letter Number 54 Year 2020 signed by Tjahjo Kumolo.
Previously, the period of work from home for ASN was valid from March 16 to Wednesday (5/13). However, after evaluating the COVID-19 pandemic conditions in the country, the government decided to impose WFH for longer.
The implementation of the work from home policy is evaluated every two weeks to see the effectiveness of its implementation, especially in regions that implement the CBDR. Every two weeks, the PAN-RB Ministry team evaluates the effectiveness and public services related to WFH, especially in areas where the large-scale social limitation (PSBB) applies.
Already Designed
Working from home is now a new experience for ASNs and employees in Jakarta. If there were no outbreaks, maybe there would be no such policy.
But seeing the stage or phases of bureaucratic reform and technological advances it turns out that this might be possible. It’s just, who knows when the official policy will become permanent. With the possibility of WFH in the future, then consider WFH since mid-March as a trial or warming up. Moreover, technology makes it easier to work without having to from the office.
It turns out that the Ministry of National Development and Planning (PPN)/National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) had secretly designed the WFH for ASN long before this event was held.
PPN Minister/Head of Bappenas Suharso Monoarfa has designed a work scheme policy for ASN without having to go to the office (telecommuting). That was conveyed by Suharso after a joint meeting of Commission V of the Indonesian Parliament in Jakarta, Wednesday, November 20, 2019.
“There is a concept, if work is more flexible, right, well maybe future generations will also be in such ways. So why don’t we accommodate,” Suharso said.
At that time, he also conveyed a plan to test the working concept on January 1, 2020. The trial was conducted on 1,000 ASNs within the National Development Planning Agency.
Capital city
If it is successful, it is not impossible that the concept of work without office (virtual) will be applied in the new Capital City later. If successful, later civil servants do not need to “go to the office” every day. That is, the work of civil servants will be more flexible to do without having to be in the office. As long as they can complete the work with quality that can be accounted for.
Although the construction has been postponed due to the corona virus, in the future the concept of the new Capital City will be the city and smart city and smart government. With these two concepts, ASN can be flexible in terms of its work. But the important thing is, they can do their job well. It can even make corrections if something isn’t right and so on.
To that end, Bappenas has implemented cloud computing technology (iCloud), the Internet of Things (IoT) to the blockchain. So not all of them have to be in the building, maybe later certain Directorat Generals are not in the Capital City. But there are still shared buildings, there are shared spaces that can be used.
Digital
With existing schemes and trials of 1,000 ASNs at Bappenas and their implementation during the WFH during this pandemic, an evaluation and picture of the government bureaucracy will be obtained in the future.
What is clear is that technology continues to develop which provides convenience in many ways, including work in the bureaucracy. Public demands for various matters that need to be accelerated are increasingly inevitable.
If the work of the bureaucracy does not change from the present and past conditions, it will certainly be left behind. Though the speed of public service is a locomotive for economic growth. Therefore, manual bureaucratic work with direct interaction between people is less necessary. Such methods are not only ineffective and inefficient but also risk collusion.
Bureaucracy that works effectively and efficiently with the support of digital technology is in accordance with the demands of industry 4.0. At first the phase was about to begin, but this outbreak had “forced” various matters to be carried out digitally.
WFH also directly became a testing ground for working without an office (virtual office). Although at first it might stutter with various obstacles in the midst of difficult situations like this, but various government bureaucratic matters turned out to be possible.
WFH can be an inspiration to design bureaucracy in the millennial era. Namely effective, efficient, fast and transparent bureaucracy with digital work tools. The draft certainly depicts a bureaucracy in a lean future. With technology, the support of human resources needed will also be less. [antaranews/photo traveltext.id]
