The City of Bandung and England Discuss the Use of Big Data

Since 2015, the British Embassy has collaborated with the Bandung City Government (Pemkot) in various aspects, one of which is the development of a smart city.

Through discussions on Monday, 27 June 2022, the Bandung City Government and the British Embassy again discussed several issues related to smart cities, such as transportation, processing waste into renewable energy, utilizing big data, and creative industries.

The Regional Secretary (Sekda) for the City of Bandung, Ema Sumarna said, through the Global Future Cities collaboration, the Bandung City Government will improve the fleet and transportation culture.

"We will run this program in 2023. A budget of IDR 49 billion has been prepared for this program. One proof that the Bandung City Government can maximally cooperate with the British to improve the fleet and transportation culture in Bandung City," said Ema.

Then, in the Smart City program, Ema explained, the City of Bandung already has a Bandung Command Center (BCC). This year the City Government will revitalize the value of the function and benefit of the BCC, so that information from all Regional Apparatus Organizations (OPD) can be integrated.

"We need input to be able to accelerate the target of Bandung City towards a smart city in its public services," he said.

Not only that, the Bandung City Government will also explore cooperation in the field of renewable energy. In a day the city of Bandung produces 1,500 tons of waste. However, until now only 1,200 tons of waste can be processed.

"The remaining 300 tons we use the 3R (Reuse Reduce Recycle) system. However, we feel this is not optimal. Maybe the British Ambassador can provide input," he said.

Ema added that the Bandung City Government plans to cooperate in the form of waste processing for the Waste Power Plant (PLTSa).

"To be precise, East Bandung is in the Gedebage area. This is currently in the process of recalculating its needs. The plan is to use the incinerator technology," he explained.

In response to this, the Head of Second Cities, Network and Strategy, British Embassy Jakarta, Samuel Hayes said, the smart city system in Bandung is one of the best in Indonesia.

"The smart city of Bandung, like BCC, is one of the best in Indonesia. In the UK, we have the City of Bristol, which also has similarities to smart city programs like Bandung. If you want to do a benchmark, you can go there," said Sam.

In addition, the waste processing system into renewable energy carried out in the UK, can be followed by the Bandung City Government in dealing with waste problems.

Sam explained that in the UK, organic waste is processed using a composting or anaerobic decomposition system (Anaerobic Digestion/AD).

"The main advantage of this technology is the production of biomethane. It can be used to generate electricity. It is very useful, especially in remote locations," he said.

He added, this does not necessarily happen in England. Collaboration is needed to build a disciplined habit of sorting waste. The government hooked the community to campaign for the program.

"The government also makes regulations in the form of fines if someone violates it," he admitted.

Although it has not yet reached a definite point of agreement, the British Embassy is committed to being involved in the development of the City of Bandung through programs that can meet the needs of the community and can be developed together. (din)**

Head of Diskominfo Bandung

Yayan A. Brilyana