Indonesia Launches Digital System to Accelerate Child Identity Registration

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Indonesia launched a new digital integration system that connects birth data from healthcare facilities directly to the national population system. Launched at the Pasar Minggu Health Center in South Jakarta on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, this innovation is designed to cut thru the bureaucracy that has long hindered millions of families in the world's fourth most populous country.

Previously, parents in Indonesia had to manage birth certificates, family cards, and children's identities separately thru a long and complicated manual process. Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, explained that with this new system, the three documents can now be issued immediately as soon as the baby is born in a community health center or hospital.

The system works by connecting the national digital health platform SATUSEHAT with the population database of the Ministry of Home Affairs. After being verified by the Directorate General of Population and Civil Registration, the official documents are sent to parents via email with a QR code, or thru health facilities for those without email.

Chairman of the National Economic Council, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, described the integration of data between ministries as an important foundation for a more efficient government. Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian added that this interconnected system will spare the public from dealing with convoluted bureaucracy.

The Head of the Central Statistics Agency, Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti, revealed that the ownership of birth certificates for children aged 0–17 years in Indonesia now reaches 94.6 percent. However, she noted that there are still around 5.4 percent of children who are not registered, with coverage in several regions of Papua and East Nusa Tenggara still below 90 percent.

The trial of this system was first conducted at Harapan Kita Children's and Mother's Hospital on July 31, 2026, before being expanded to several community health centers in Jakarta. The President Director of BPJS Kesehatan, Prihati Pujowakito, added that this integration also accelerates the update of health insurance membership data for newborns.

The government plans to gradually expand this system to all healthcare facilities that handle childbirth in various regions, while also integrating death registration in the future. This step makes Indonesia one of the examples of how digital technology can help large-population countries overcome the challenge of legal identity registration for their citizens.