Digital Divide Solutions and Public Service Policy Implementation in Indonesia after the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The digital divide has become an important and pressing issue in developing countries during the pandemic and even post-COVID-19 pandemic. In Indonesia, this issue is very important to immediately find the right solution. With the rapid development of telecommunications and the increasingly cheap information technology, especially the internet, it is expected to reduce the problem of the digital divide. The digital divide has been more associated with the availability of access and infrastructure, even though qualified digital capabilities are a prerequisite for digital equity. In addition, strong political decisions are also needed, effective policy instruments are the main prerequisites that cannot be ignored. For this reason, special handling is needed with appropriate and fast government policies, namely by innovating public service policies without overriding policies that have been issued by the central and regional governments before. The forms of policy innovation carried out by local governments after the Covid-19 pandemic include policy innovations related to the recovery of the bureaucratic sector and public services, innovations in the fields of health services, public order, and policy innovations in the economic sector. Formally, a number of institutional aspects have been designed in formulating public service policy innovations. This study aims to see the condition of the digital divide in Indonesia and the solutions presented by the government and individuals to overcome the digital divide, as well as identify the urgency and form of smarter public service policy innovation and its implementation in every region in Indonesia after the Covid-19 pandemic. This research was conducted with a qualitative approach that uses descriptive analysis and explains how the condition of the digital divide between regions in Indonesia and what solutions have been carried out and how the implementation of public service policy innovations can be applied effectively, so that the course of life in various fields can be normal and adaptive again in Indonesia after the COVID-19 pandemic. This research concludes that increasing internet access in Indonesia has not been fully accompanied by the readiness of the digital capabilities of its people. Digital skills include motivation to be more productive in using the internet, get useful information, and use it for productive activities that can improve the economy. In addition, the social conditions of the people and geographical conditions in each region also greatly affect it. The implementation of public service innovation, there are still several factors that become obstacles that directly affect the effectiveness or failure of the implementation, be it in socialization of activities, responsiveness of local governments, leadership, quality of human resources, budget refocusing, OPD collaboration, coordination difficulties, community needs, program continuity, preparation of activity priorities, merging activities, transfer of authority for activities, and facilities and infrastructure that exists in each region in Indonesia is different.