Internet access has become a necessity for all households, especially during the 'COVID-19' coronavirus pandemic, where people are forced to work and study remotely.
And that includes for people in Indonesia, the Southeast Asian nation.
This is why the Jakarta administration has launched a free WiFi program, called 'JakWIFI', to facilitate this, in order for online learning to commence, and further help support the provision of government services.
With the establishment of JakWIFI, Anies Baswedan, the Governor of DKI Jakarta, hopes that activities in areas such as the economic sector, business sector, government services, communications, and public transport will improve and become more accessible.
The program aims to optimize internet connections at 4.956 hotspots, with additional hotspots in densely populated residential areas in North Jakarta, Central Jakarta, West Jakarta, East Jakarta and South Jakarta, as well as the Thousand Islands regency.
Anies expects to expand the number of hotspots to approximately 9,000 in the next two months.
The governor said that:
"The crisis has given us an opportunity to accelerate digital transformation. We hope people will not only use the free internet access to access information but also to create information, or become content creators."
Anies hopes that the JakWiFi initiative will encourage the people of Jakarta to be more involved in digital activities – both consuming and creating.
The governor also expresses his hopes that through the free Wi-Fi, DKI Jakarta and its administrative areas would help address the issues presented by unequal internet access.
JakWIFI is a collaboration between the DKI Jakarta provincial government, telecommunication infrastructure provider PT Bali Towerindo Sentra and the Telecommunications Network Providers Association (APJATEL)
To use this free Wi-Fi, users in Jakarta need to download the JAKI app (available for both iOS and Android), which has been developed to provide some necessary information about Jakarta and its activities.
Through the app, users can access the JakWIFI feature.
After that, they will be presented with an interactive map of the Greater Jakarta, which shows the free JakWIFI hotspots available. Users can also scan the area manually by first turning on the location service on their smartphone, to then tap on the ‘"Pindai Area Ini' option.
Initially, JakWIFI is meant for students to be able to study remotely. The program's primary target is those children who have difficulties in having internet access for whatever reasons.
"This is for our children, hoping that they can use the free Wi-Fi to help them study," said Anies.
Going forward, JakWIFI would be expanded to more people, and made available for public use.