Kartu Prakerja Becomes the Government’s First Startup

Since the Implementing Management was formed on March 17, 2020 and the first batch was launched on April 11, 2020, the Kartu Prakerja Program is only 17 months old.

However, at such an early age, the Kartu Prakerja has succeeded in changing the face of public services, especially in the field of vocational training in today’s digital era. 

The program implementation process takes place end-to-end digitally, without face-to-face and without intermediaries.

In addition, the Kartu Prakerja has succeeded in boosting financial inclusion in Indonesia, as well as applying the ‘consumer centric’ principle, which is a service with an emphasis on customer satisfaction.

Evidently, the Kartu Prakerja program has a reliable contact center service, working 12 hours every day without holidays, through three types of service channels according to the choice of service users.

With these advantages, the Executive Director of the Kartu Prakerja Program Management calls the Kartu Prakerja Program ‘the first government startup’.

The Kartu Prakerja Program Has a Startup Culture

Even though it was born and runs operations with APBN funds, this program has a culture similar to that of a start-up company, which is dominated by young people with bright abilities and high dedication.

This statement was made by Denni Purbasari at the 2021 Digiweek Forum, an annual conference held by The Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS) and this time with the big theme ‘Governing Indonesia’s Digital Economy, Towards an Innovative, Inclusive & Safe Indonesian Digital Economy’.

In the discussion on the topic ‘The Future of Education: Learning from the Pandemic and the Role of EduTech for HR Development’, Denni Purbasari who appeared on a panel with CIPS researcher Latasha Safira and one of the founders of HarukaEDU, Gerald Ariff, gave a presentation entitled, ‘Pre-work: Game Changer?’ last week.

“This Kartu Prakerja is different. I assure you that this program makes a difference. With the power of digital technology, the scale and speed of the results are very high, because in just 17 months it can reach almost 10 million recipients from 514 districts/cities. In fact, in Papua, specifically this year, the recipients have reached 63,000 people,” said Denni.

Still, with the advantages of digital technology, the Kartu Prakerja has succeeded in becoming an inclusive program that is able to measure the progress of the learning process of its recipients.

In addition, the inclusiveness of this program can be seen because the Kartu Prakerja is proven to be able to reach people in rural areas, former Indonesian Migrant Workers, people with disabilities, and those who live in disadvantaged areas.

“From the beginning, we were determined to make this a product, and not just a program that absorbs the state budget. And like a corporation, we strive so that this product does not become a failed product. For that, we must listen to consumers’ voices,” he said.

Literacy Efforts Continue to be Made for Improvement

He explained that various iteration efforts were being carried out by the Kartu Prakerja Program for improvement. 

“We do iterations or improvements by listening to consumers’ voices continuously, either through comments on social media or the Pre-Employment contact center,” he explained.

Denni gave an example, once a technical problem was caught by the contact center, the Operations and Technology team tried to solve the problem as quickly as possible.

“The Operations and Technology Team is the ‘DNA’ of a start-up. They usually respond immediately and make sure they won’t sleep before the problem is solved,” he said.

Because of that hard work, the results of a recent survey by Ipsos, a global research institute from the United States, revealed that of the various aid programs provided by the government, Pre-Employment is the assistance program that the community receives the most and is considered the most useful.

To ensure that the training provided is varied, Implementing Management partners with hundreds of training institutions.

“Employment revives the skills upgrading market. Business entities compete with each other to provide the best services and prices for consumers,” said Denni.