20
21
annual report
Accelerating Analytic Partnerships for
Development and Humanitarian Action
FOREWORDS
Valerie Julliand
Valerie Julliand
Resident Coordinator,
United Nations in Indonesia
Dr. Ir. Himawan Hariyoga Djojokusumo, MSc.
Dr. Ir. Himawan Hariyoga Djojokusumo, MSc.
Executive Secretary, Ministry of National Development Planning Indonesia
Kirsten Bishop
Kirsten Bishop
DFAT Minister Counsellor
Australian Embassy Jakarta
OUR PARTNERS
UN-Women
ESCAP
J-PAL
KOMPAK
Thailand-Policy-Lab
Monash-University
UNIC
KAI
Ladysmith
Cardno
UNDP
UNICEF
Sida
The-Australia-Indonesia-Centre
ADB-SEADS
SIAP
JDS
Kemenkes
BAPPENAS
Kemlu
BPS
gender-at-work
facebook
IDRC
WHAT OUR PARTNERS SAY ABOUT US
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
Executive Summary
Petrarca Karetji
Petrarca Karetji
Head, Pulse Lab Jakarta
YEAR IN
(P)REVIEW
The shift in 2021 towards greater impact
in our work extends beyond an end-of-year timeline. Transitioning from mostly prototyping data innovations to a focus on systems thinking design, our collaborations with key stakeholders and partners served to highlight various shortcomings in existing systems and identify underlying issues for improved integration and sustainability. In particular, the COVID-19 crisis prompted a renewed focus to improve public service delivery through a more data-driven and people-centered approach. This has led to a greater demand for and appreciation of our work as a mixed-methods data innovation facility that combines data analytics with service design to generate value. In this annual review, we look at what we accomplished and the emerging impact from the processes put in motion to address some of the challenges.
Increased Demand for Data Analytics & Service Design Across Government
Data is critical for designing responsive programmes and informing evidence-based decisions across different levels of government. Non-traditional data in the form of big data has helped in recent years to close information gaps with more dynamic and timely insights, yet traditional data such as official statistics also remain important. Showcasing the art of the possible, our work over the years has demonstrated the wealth of insights that can be generated from combining these datasets. Complemented by service design that looks at the end-to-end processes and resources required for our data-driven innovations to run and generate value, this mixed-methods approach can be particularly actionable in helping governments to better respond to new challenges and meeting the needs of citizens in an inclusive way. However, achieving this outcome requires a change in existing practices that does not just focus on building new tools, but also seeks to address issues within existing systems and the lack of interlinkages with emerging ones. Supported by Bappenas as our main government counterpart, in 2021 we focused on how to address some of these issues through targeted systems mapping research and data dives conducted with several units in the Indonesian Government.
JDS (p)review
Jabar Digital Service, West Java Government COVID-19 Risk Assessment Mapping in West Java, Indonesia
PT Kereta Api Indonesia, State-owned Enterprise Disaggregating Data for Inclusive Transport Planning
Directorate of SMEs and Cooperatives Development, Bappenas Strengthening MSMEs for Inclusive Growth
Digital Transformation Office, Ministry of Health Health Data Analytics for Managing Pandemics
Click to Explore our Mixed-Methods Approach
Mixed Methods Approach
Mixed Methods Approach
Increased Digitalization and Optimization of Information Systems
The COVID-19 crisis brought data innovations to the fore, which is marked by citizens' increased exposure to ICTs and governments growing adoption of digital technologies to improve practices and outcomes. Designing these tools in a user-centric way remains a priority to ensure that citizens can fully realize the benefits of digitalization, and at the same time governments can effectively tackle policy questions through a more data-informed approach. As our work on digital innovations continues to demonstrate, digital transformation in the public sector is imperative. In 2021, we renewed our focus to further foster an enabling environment in Indonesia, where structural and behavioural barriers to adoption are reduced; transparency in data is prioritized to restore public trust in government; and guiding principles are collectively established to strengthen linkages within the broader data ecosystem.
Independent Research: Beyond Sticky Floors Overcoming Behavioural Barriers to Adopting Digital Tools Among Women Business Owners
Ministry of Health & UNICEF Applying Service Design to Optimize Indonesia's National Nutrition Information System
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Adapting to Digital Diplomacy with Machine Learning
Directorate of Spatial Planning and Disaster Management & The Centre for Data and Information, Ministry of National Development Planning Improving Data Preparedness and Information Management System for Disaster Management
Beyond-Sticky-Floors Beyond-Sticky-Floors2
Repositioning to Deliver Better Results
With the release of the UN Secretary-General's forward looking Our Common Agenda in September 2021, our role as an analytic partnerships accelerator becomes all the more relevant in the development ecosystem in Indonesia and the Asia Pacific region. Working at both a member state and regional level has allowed for a number of collaborations to be developed and maintained with various actors, particularly within the private sector where “shared value” partnerships are more easily developed within overlapping development and commercial environments. As our work continues to demonstrate, tangible results have also been more easily gained through linkages to policy makers and their agency, providing clearer “identity” spaces for more effective adoption of innovations in the “solution” spaces. Coupled with our growing capabilities for data, innovation, strategic foresight, behavioral science and results orientation (which make up the UN's Quinter of Change), our local and regional experiences, as well as being an interlocutor in the Global South make us well placed to support the Agenda's call for “global cooperation and reinvigorating inclusive, networked, and effective multilateralism”.
Facilitation and technical support for UN Data Strategy Use Case
Management and Coordination of Regional Data Initiatives and Advocacy
Technical and Communication Support to Achieve and Scale Impact
UN 2.0 Quintet of Change
Repositioning to Deliver Better Results
OUR
INFLUENCE & EMERGING IMPACT
Throughout 2021, we continued to rely on our results framework that defines impact as our contributions to change. This results framework is built on the premise that within the development ecosystem, we play a significant role in working with and strengthening the capacity of our stakeholders and partners to leverage data innovation, AI, and service design to improve public policy making, social intervention designs, and humanitarian responses. In particular, the framework lays down three main categories of impact by which our work brings value to our range of stakeholders and partners: methodological impact, ecosystemic impact and operational impact.
three main categories of impact
Methodological Impact
Methodological Impact
Ecosystemic Impact
Ecosystemic Impact
Operational Impact
Operational Impact

Our reflection this year also draws from an Independent Strategic Review (ISR) that was commissioned by DFAT in 2021, which thoroughly reviewed DFAT's “knowledge to policy” investments in Indonesia. The review asserts that PLJ has made notable success in contributing to evidence-based policy making, and in supporting increased gender equality, disability and social inclusion in Indonesia's knowledge sector.

Excerpt from DFAT's 2021 Independent Strategic Review Regarding Pulse Lab Jakarta Knowledge to Policy Investments in Indonesia

In the cases examined for the ISR, GOI partners expressed the view that PLJ's support was significant in increasing their policy responsiveness and impact. While information alone is insufficient to deliver behaviour change, it can have a catalysing effect. It is clear from interviews that at least for those stakeholders, the ability to obtain relevant insights in real-time from non-conventional, secondary data and present the results in highly visual ways is valued. Furthermore, the value placed on access to up-to-date, relevant information not previously available has increased significantly during the pandemic. As one interviewee commented, in the current crisis the Ministry receives many proposals for assistance but the depth of PLJ's data is different, providing insights at a neighbourhood (rather than city or village) level. This finding is corroborated by PLJ's own experiences with 12 of the 17 active projects in June 2020 related to COVID-19 responses and the majority of these coming from external requests. In some instances, utilisation of data and data governance processes provided by PLJ has also increased decision-makers' confidence in the data they are seeing with respect to the pandemic. Partners in the private sector interviewed for the ISR echoed this perspective, equating the quality of PLJ's services with state-of-the-art programming in the private sector. Furthermore, for them this value translated directly into new procedures and practices with direct benefits for women's safety while using public transport networks and MSMEs in accessing financial services.
Click to Explore our Research Activities
Research Activities
Research Activities
Publications Publications
2020 Annual Report 2020 Annual Report
Research Dive: Health Data Analytics for Managing Pandemics Research Dive: Health Data Analytics for Managing Pandemics
Data Preparedness and  Information Management  System in Disaster Management Data Preparedness and Information Management System in Disaster Management
Pulse Stories: Beyond Sticky Floors Pulse Stories: Beyond Sticky Floors
A Simulation of COVID-19 Transmission in Bekasi City, West Java Using Agent-based Modelling A Simulation of COVID-19 Transmission in Bekasi City, West Java Using Agent-based Modelling
Understanding PT KAI Passengers' Travel Behaviour: Findings & Recommendations Understanding PT KAI Passengers' Travel Behaviour: Findings & Recommendations
4 Report Contributions
UN Behavioural Science Report UN Innovation Network UN Behavioural Science Report UN Innovation Network
The Landscape of Big Data and Gender Data2X The Landscape of Big Data and Gender Data2X
Collective Crisis Intelligence for Frontline Humanitarian Response Nesta Collective Crisis Intelligence for Frontline Humanitarian Response Nesta
The Evidence Commission report Commission on Evidence The Evidence Commission report Commission on Evidence
2 Accepted Papers
List Publications
Information Systems Humanitarian and Disaster Contexts: Levers of Change Based on Lessons from Indonesia Siap Siaga Regional Lesson Learning Symposium on COVID-19 and Its Impact on Disaster Management and Resilience
List Publications
An agent-based model of the spread of COVID-19 in West Java, Indonesia 24th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation
Knowledge Sharing Engagements Knowledge Sharing Engagements
100+ requests
~50 speaking engagements
public and private sector public and private sector
national and international national and international
  • GIZ New Work Academy
  • ADB Southeast Asia Development Symposium 2021
    Egis Group After Dark Presentation
    The State of Women Institute Amplifying Her Voice
    TIFA Foundation and CIPG Data Governance in the Health and
    Educations Sector During COVID-19
    Nesta PLJ and Mixed Methods: The Story So Far
    National Monitoring and
    Evaluation Conference 2021
    Women Investing in Women International
    Women's Day
    The Asia Foundation and Gov Lab The 100 Questions Initiative and Governance
    UNDP Accelerator Lab Futures Games
  • DFAT Governing in the Digital Age STA virtual Pre-Course Workshop
    University of Manchester Integrative big and thick data approaches for development
    Indonesian Ministry of Forestry and Environment KLHK Innovators Event
    NUS Data Science for Policy Making Sharing Session
  • AHA Centre HELIX 2021 Humanitarian and Emergency Logistics Innovation
    HARMONI Empathetic Social Research Webinar
    Pulse Lab Finland Foresight Webinar
    TAP webinar Researchers working towards impact
  • SIAP SIAGA Changing Use of Technology in Coordinating Assistance
  • MINDS Seminar Series on Data Science
    Network for Equity through Digital Health Digital Health: Driving Better Policy
    UNESCAP Stats Café: Machine Learning for Sentiment Analysis
    World Statistics Congress
    UN Women & UN SIAP Training on using big data for gender statistics
  • ASEAN Strategic Policy Dialogue on Disaster Management 2021
    UPI University Marine Information Systems (SIK) Curriculum Review 2021
    Introducing Game-Changers in Disaster Management
    Pulse Lab Kampala Introduction to Behavioural Science
  • Urban Social Forum The 8th Urban Social Forum: Another City is Possible!
    Sharing Session: Food Systems Governance Platform
  • Lokalab Design Thinking in Urban and Regional Planning Analysis
    Siap Siaga Regional Symposium: Lessons Learning on COVID-19 and Disaster Management
    UN-ASEAN Joint Strategic Point of Action on Disaster Management
  • Digital Futures: Co-Designing AI Governance
    General Issue Updates (GIU) "Data Innovation: Leveraging Big Data and Traditional Data in Understanding Pandemic Better"
    Indonesia Ministry of Foreign Affairs International Conference 'on Digital Diplomacy
    Thailand Policy Lab Policy Innovations Exchange
    SIAP SIAGA Inter-Regional Workshop for Strengthening Disaster Management
    The Australia-Indonesia Centre PAIR Summit: Improving health data connectivity
    University of Indonesia Big Data & Public Policy
  • 24th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation
Media Coverage Media Coverage
MAY 2021

UN Global Pulse in Indonesia operates as Pulse Lab Jakarta, a joint data innovation facility of the United Nations and the Government of Indonesia (via the Ministry of National Development Planning). Functioning as an analytic partnerships accelerator, the Lab operates in the problem, solution and identity spaces where it applies mixed-methods research approaches.

As part of the UN Global Pulse network, the Lab works at the intersection of digital innovation and human sciences to inform, inspire, and strengthen the ability of the United Nations family and those it serves to anticipate, respond and adapt to the challenges of today and tomorrow.

UN Global Pulse in Indonesia is grateful for the generous support of the Australian Government.

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