The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Kemenkominfo) has successfully implemented the Early Warning System through digital TV, reaching 1,005 regions across Indonesia.

This Early Warning System is a donation from the Japanese Government to disseminate early warnings related to disaster events. With this Early Warning System, communities in various areas will receive disaster warnings via digital TV.

Director General of Postal and Information Technology Operations (PPI) Kemenkominfo Wayan Toni Supriyanto stated that the available digital TVs can now receive the Early Warning System. This system has been implemented simultaneously, so digital TVs will automatically display disaster warning announcements in all affected regions before a disaster occurs.

"The Early Warning System for digital TV has reached 100% of Indonesia's regions based on the postal codes of affected areas, provided that the IT infrastructure for Multiplexing Providers is available in those regions," Wayan said on Monday (30/9/2024).

However, the Japanese Government's donation only includes software or applications for the Early Warning System, not hardware like TVs or other devices. This software has been integrated into Kemenkominfo’s IT infrastructure to enable multiplexing across Indonesia.

"The scope of the donation is limited to the Early Warning System application and cannot be used on a massive scale yet. However, there are plans to expand its usage nationwide with its dedicated frequency," Wayan explained.

Multiplexing providers will utilize this early warning system to display disaster information through digital TV, including disaster messages, disaster levels such as alert, standby, and warning, and postal codes for affected areas. This implementation aligns with Ministerial Decree 288 of 2024 on Guidelines for Disaster Information Delivery Systems via Terrestrial Digital Television Broadcasting Multiplexing Providers, supporting the national digital TV IT infrastructure.

“The technical configuration for the Early Warning System is done on the central IT infrastructure multiplexing and is distributed through downlink to all multiplexing providers in Indonesia, including TVRI, Transmedia, Metro TV, MNC, SCM, Viva, NTV, and RTV,” he added.

The sources of information for the Early Warning System come from several ministries and agencies, including the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) for earthquakes and tsunamis, the DKI Jakarta Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) regarding floods, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry concerning forest fires, and the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) and the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) for volcanic eruptions.

Kemenkominfo has also launched the Disaster Prevention Information System (DPIS) to distribute disaster information to officers and disaster response volunteers at the central, provincial, district, and city levels.

“We have instructed the Multiplexing Providers to implement the Early Warning System for Digital TV as of 12 September 2024,” Wayan concluded.