Our Smart Water Resources Management System (SWRMS) project kicked off with an online meeting on February 13th, bringing together key counterparts including the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing of Indonesia, Department of Groundwater and Raw Water, and Ministry of National Development Planning. This meeting laid the groundwork for our engagement with various stakeholders in Semarang, scheduled from March 18th to 21st, involving organisations such as River Basin Organisation Pemali Juana, Central Java’s Energy and Mineral Resources Agency, and several others.
Our primary goal in this phase is to define the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder in developing the SWRMS. In collaboration with HKV, we aim to address critical groundwater use issues, which are essential to prevent further land subsidence. This project will focus on understanding and integrating the challenges, opportunities, and common ground of all stakeholders to create a system that enhances decision-making processes. Based on our interactions, we recognized the need to expand engagement to include Central Java’s Department of Agriculture and Plantation as a primary water user and the Agency of Communications and Information as the host for most platforms used by other agencies in Central Java.
A significant aspect of our approach is to capture stakeholder perspectives through User Stories. These narratives will informally describe the desired features from each stakeholder, helping us identify common goals and commitments. Through these stories, we seek to map existing platforms and assess how the SWRMS can provide additional support, ensuring a comprehensive and collaborative solution. We also emphasize the importance of working both top-down and bottom-up. Through the Young Professional Workshop, we engaged over twenty young professionals from local agencies and water utilities in Central Java. This workshop connected us with these young staff and allowed them to actively participate in shaping future water resource management.
As we move forward, intensive engagement until June 2024 will be crucial. Between March and May, our focus was on refining user stories and assessing stakeholder expectations. We identified opportunities for enhanced data-driven decision-making and transparency, though challenges remain in terms of resource capacity and system maintenance. The Workshop provided an active platform for understanding water management complexities, and through simulations of different scenarios, participants identified potential bottlenecks and suggested innovative solutions for future water scarcity issues. Our commitment to this collaborative effort is unwavering as we strive to develop an effective and efficient SWRMS.
