Kementerian Pendayagunaan Aparatur Negara dan Reformasi Birokrasi (PANRB) has collaborated with the Government of West Kalimantan (Kalbar), supported by the United States International Development Agency (USAID) Effective, Efficient and Strong Governance (ERAT) to hold an Ideathon competition roadshow with the theme ‘Young People for Excellent Public Services’. The event was held at Balai Petitih, Governor’s Office of West Kalimantan on Tuesday, May 16th. The event included a public discussion entitled ‘Let’s Create Innovations for Prosperous West Kalimantan’ and was followed by an explanation of the Ideathon idea-harvesting competition. The event was attended by students, academics, civil society organizations, practitioners, and government representatives.
During the Ideathon competition, the Ministry of PANRB invited young people to participate and contribute to answering the challenges of public service, especially in the six provinces that are part of the USAID ERAT program, namely East Java, South Sulawesi, North Sumatra, East Nusa Tenggara, Banten, and West Kalimantan.
“The theme that we carry out in the Ideathon Competition is Tons-of-Ideas Young People for Excellent Public Services. From this competition, we hope that ideas will emerge from young civil servants, students, practitioners/academics who can help answer the challenge of more excellent public services,” said Deputy for Public Service Affairs in the Ministry of PANRB, Diah Natalisa.
The West Kalimantan Provincial Government, represented by Governor’s Expert Staff in Development and Economic Affairs, Christianus Lumano, appreciated the collaboration between PANRB and USAID ERAT to create the Ideathon competition so that young people can make a positive contribution in improving the quality of public services in the region and positively impact the wider community, especially in West Kalimantan.
Based on the Faster Poverty Reduction Program (P3KE) data for 2023, the extreme poverty rate in West Kalimantan is around 2.04 percent. “Ketapang Regency is the area with the highest extreme poverty rate in West Kalimantan, namely 36.67 percent. This is due to several factors, such as inadequate infrastructure and there are still villages without access to electricity,” Lumano explained.
This was supported by USAID ERAT’s findings in a quick study conducted in five districts/cities in West Kalimantan. Public service issues regarding social welfare and poverty alleviation, education and culture, infrastructure egalitarianism, digital transformation, stunting, maternal and child health are closely related to the community and must be resolved promptly.
Several panelists attended the public discussion, sharing their insights into the conditions and challenges related to egalitarianism and poverty in West Kalimantan. Panelists included the Head of Research and Development Agency of West Kalimantan, the Dean of the Faculty of Social and Political Science at Tanjungpura University, and practitioners in the field of development and society.
They shared the potential contributions of young people in response to conditions in their respective regions. Through this discussion, it is hoped that young people will be inspired to generate ideas and innovations, and participate in submitting their ideas to the Ideathon competition. Ideathon is a forum for harvesting ideas from young people aged 18-35 throughout Indonesia.
Participants can submit their best ideas to help local governments answer the challenges of public service. Through this competition, it is hoped that awareness of the importance of the participation of young people in efforts to realize public service will increase.
The BeribuIde roadshow was also carried out in several other provinces, namely East Nusa Tenggara, East Java, Banten, South Sulawesi, and North Sumatra. Participants can submit their ideas until May 26, 2023.
The types of ideas that can be given are in the form of concepts, products, systems, applications, and platforms. Registration and more complete information about this competition can be accessed through pamflet.or.id/ideathon or Instagram @tonsofidea.
