INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR DEVELOPMENT IN INDONESIA
the refugees and also about the volcanic activity to the organization Jalin Merapi. The information
was then relayed to all of Jalin Merapi’s tens of thousands of followers on Twitter, and from
Twitter then automatically shown on Jalin Merapi’s homepage and Facebook page and broadcasted
over the community radio network Nugroho 2011. The website itself provided clear links to all
forms of communication between volunteers and Jalin Merapi. Within a few hours, requests made for
water via Twitter had been met and new requests were being made and met as needed. Jalin Merapi’s
success supports the findings of Samarajiva and Waidyanatha who argue that a combination of
SMS communication and a robust website are key factors in successfully using ICTs to enable
cooperation between disaster relief agents 2009. Jalin Merapi goes a step further by heavily using
social media as well.
Air Putih Foundation also provided disaster assistance for the 2010 Merapi earthquake, as well
as the 2011 tsunami in Mentawi. In these cases, Air Putih Foundation used mobile phone technology
combined with mapping applications and SMS Gateway to map out reported information from
various individuals on the ground. The mapping was done through an application called Ushahidi,
though which people all over the world can tell the story of what is happening to them — or
around them — during a disaster, and share their story through SMS texts.
Air Putih Foundation is now also trying to develop “Open BTS” technology, a simplified
version of mobile technology that could be setup for public use in rural areas without depending on a
major network operator. In this way, they hope that it will be possible for communication to become
organized by society rather than companies.
4.3. Mobile Phones and Maternal Health
Disaster alerts and relief information are not the only types of information that are relevant and
needed in Indonesia. Another type of information that can and has been improved through the use
of mobile phones, for example, is maternal health. Mobile health, or m-health, like mobile banking is
an idea that has taken off internationally, and lead to the creation of m-health tools in countries
such as Ghana, Uganda, South Africa, Bangladesh and India. Many m-health tools involve directly
messaging mothers with timely information about steps to take to address their health needs at
different stages of their pregnancy and nursing. SMS texts have also been used to send relevant
information for preventing and controlling the spread of HIVAIDS in South Africa. Meanwhile,
in Aceh Besar, Indonesia, a project was piloted to enable faster, more timely transfer of information
between doctors, nurses and mothers, in addition to providing an efficient means for sending patient
health data to a central database. This Midwives Mobile Phone project, in addition to creating
a more effective method for sharing health information, also was used to improve emergency
response times and effectiveness Chib, 2010.
The same 2004 tsunami, which initiated Air Putih Foundation’s involvement in disaster relief,
was also behind World Vision’s launch of the Midwives Mobile Phone project in Aceh-Besar
in 2005 Chib, et. al 2008. Estimates for the number of midwives killed or missing as a result
of the tsunami ranged from 600 to 1,650 United Nations 2005, referenced in Chib 2010. Moreover,
the region only had one hospital located in the main city of Banda Aceh and village health posts
were not equipped to deal with emergency situations Chib, et. al. 2008, 353. Through the
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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR DEVELOPMENT IN INDONESIA
Midwives Mobile Phone project, mobile phones were provided to midwives, midwife coordinators
and obstetrician-gynecologists OBGYNs at the provincial hospital. They were then linked to the
health centers, midwife’s association, administrators and researchers on the project, and a central
server that received, uploaded and collated data. An Internet interface further linked government
health agencies and United Nations bodies to an information system that showed the data being
collected Chib 2010, 506.
In 2007, World Vision conducted a survey with midwives in the program in order to evaluate the
effectiveness of using mobile phones to improve maternal health in Aceh. The randomized survey
found that mobile phone use by health practioners led to: a slight increase in patient numbers, greater
time and cost efficiencies, work efficiency in being able to send data directly to the database by
mobile phone, greater ease in seeking assistance from fellow health practioners, more patient
monitoring and consultation, and improved and more efficient collection and updating of patient
health records. Midwives also found that they gained more respect from patients through their
quick access to expert medical advice and that relationships between colleagues improved. World
Vision also sent weekly SMS texts with maternal health information to midwives and provided
them with subsidized monthly call credits Chib, et.al 2008, 357-8.
Despite the overall success of the project, concerns remained in regards to sustainability
financially in terms of paying for airtime credit, the uneven telecommunications network coverage, and
economic constraints and lack of technical know how that were thought to limit the use of more
complex technologies such as computers and the Internet by midwives. Chib, et. al. 2008, 358. Most
of these concerns, ultimately, could likely apply to other ICT4D initiatives in Indonesia addressing
issues both inside and outside of health.
4.4. PUPUK Bandung
