Encouraging Integrated Innovation Ecosystem in North Sumatra

Caption: The launch of SIRINOV SMART on October 20, 2023, attended by the Head of Organization Bureau of Regional Secretariat of North Sumatra, Head of the Research and Development Planning Agency of North Sumatra, and Consul of the United States of America for Sumatra.

In the last decade, the Government of Indonesia has been pushing for public service innovation at all levels of government. North Sumatra province has been relatively lagging in this aspect. The central government categorized them as “Innovative” in the Innovative Governance Awards competitions for three years in a row (2021-2023). The province also never attained the top 10 most innovative provinces; their best rank was 12th out of 34 provinces in 2022. The provincial government has the ambition to achieve the “Very Innovative” category in 2024. 

They recognize that the Provincial Development Planning, Research, and Development Board (BAPPELITBANGDA) possesses a vast repository of research and innovations. However, the lack of a proper knowledge-sharing mechanism and platform hinders the adaptation, adoption, and replication of these innovations. This prompted the Head of the Research Division of BAPPELITBANGDA to develop an innovation repository platform in early 2023. Nevertheless, the development of this platform stagnated due to several technical difficulties. It was USAID ERAT that revitalized the development of the platform through its technical assistance. Named SIRINOV SMART (Collaboration in the Utilization of Integrated Research Results and Innovations of North Sumatra Province ), the platform was publicly launched on October 20, 2023, and can be accessed at https://sirinovsmart.sumutprov.go.id/. 

Since its launch, the platform has gone through several rounds of improvement with USAID ERAT’s support. The most notable change is the expansion of its function from only an innovation repository to a coordination tool for state and non-state actors to improve development in North Sumatra. Academics, businesses, community, philanthropy, and media are encouraged to submit and report their work plans and activities through the platform. This feature also enabled development actors to coordinate and synchronize their efforts with others. To date, 180 non-state institutions have logged in and utilized the platform by actively sharing and accessing research data related to developmental issues in the province. From January to September 2024, the platform has been accessed by more than 8,000 users and garnered more than 18,000 views. Real collaboration transpired from the platform, such as between Langkat District, in need of 40 squat toilets to reduce the open defecation rate, and Bank Sumatera Utara, which was willing to fund the initiative in March 2024.

The PG of North Sumatra also provided a dedicated page in the platform to host the 2024 North Sumatra Regional Innovation Competition. USAID ERAT has actively supported this competition by recommending improvements for their assessment method and scoring sheet and suggesting the PG to open two more categories for students and communities in addition to the provincial and district/city government agencies category. From March 20 to May 20, 2024, the platform received 428 innovation submissions, 61% higher than the 2022 submissions. After a rigorous evaluation process, 338 innovations were deemed eligible for further evaluation in the four categories: provincial government offices (31 innovations), district governments (226 innovations), students (50 innovations), and general public (31 innovations) on issues related to public service digitalization, health, stunting, education, poverty alleviation, and environment. The competition has been completed by selecting 10 innovations from each of the four categories. The top three winners were announced on July 26, 2024. USAID ERAT will continue to provide technical assistance to support the government of North Sumatra to continue promoting innovations.  

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