Indonesia’s Unified Database (UDB) social registry

Indonesia’s Unified Database (UDB – which is now formally called Data Terpadu Kesejahteraan Sosial (DTKS) or Unified Database on Social Welfare – performs Social Registry and Integrated Beneficiary Registry functions, providing information for poverty targeting, management and M&E across the country’s largest social assistance programs. It covers 25.7 million households nationwide (93 million individuals), approximately 40 per cent of the population, and was created to reach the target of reducing poverty by 7 % by 2024, as stipulated in the country’s Midterm Development Plan 2020 – 2024 (e.g. by improving program targeting and enhancing complementarities between programs). The UDB was officially launched in 2011 and was managed from 2012–2015 by a dedicated team (known as TNP2K) under the office of the Vice President, established through the issuance of a Presidential Decree and receiving extensive financial and technical donor support. In 2016, the UDB was transitioned to PUSDATIN, a Data Centre within the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA).

Registration data for the UDB used to be collected by BPS via a census-sweep survey of selected households (those that are pre-identified as ‘poor’ using existing data sources and community knowledge). Given the size of the Indonesian population, ensuring UDB data is up-to-date – while not overloading capacity and exceeding allocated budgets – is a very large challenge. Following four rounds of census-survey data collection (2005, 2008, 2011 and 2015), on demand approaches to registration were piloted in 2016-2017 to address the issue. These are currently being rolled out nationally via a MoSA Decree that entrusts the UDB updating, verification and validation process to local government. This includes integration with the country’s national ID database. Data is subsequently processed using a proxy means test (PMT) targeting index aimed at categorising households into four levels based on a welfare index, and subsequently used for targeting by a variety of programs at national and decentralised level, including the country’s five largest social assistance programs. Data sharing, management and security is regulated by a set of published Management Standards, which play an important role in holding UDB accountable, together with a well-designed user-facing website.

Over the years, Indonesia has adopted increasingly refined approaches to data collection, validation and addressing of grievances, acknowledging that a Registry dedicated to targeting can be the source of significant inclusion and exclusion errors. The UDB started with an agile and innovative approach to census survey registration, building on existing data and capacity to keep costs contained – and has subsequently shifted to a more inclusive on-demand approach, which is in progress. Its Management Standards and user-facing website promote transparency and accountability, the building of trust in the system. It has also increasingly expanded the functions of the UDB, beyond just registration and eligibility assessment. This iterative and adaptive – trial and error – approach to developing the UDB over the years has been one of its key drivers of success.

 

To see how this example facilitated national social protection responses to the COVID pandemic, please click here

 

Further reading links