Open dataset of the week: Healthcare in Jakarta

Primary health centres are the most basic unit of the public healthcare network. Jakarta's open dataset on its primary health centres can uncover a host of services for Indonesians and benefits for the government. This is why FutureGov has chosen this dataset as its open dataset of the week.

The dataset lists the names, addresses and contact details of 394 clinics across Jakarta. It also indicates a breakdown of staff and the state of infrastructure in each of these clinics, including the condition of the buildings, ambulances, internet connections.

The locations and names of clinics in the city can be mapped out if combined with their geographic coordinates. This could be turned into a handy application for residents which lights up the nearest clinics on a map.

The government can use the information on the staff and the condition of infrastructure to create a dashboard of its primary health network. It could use this to plan when a clinic needs a new ambulance or when it's time for an internet connection.

Both of these ideas can be improved if the government can combine the existing data with the number of patients visiting each of these clinics. The app could then show residents the closest clinic with the shortest queue, so that patients can plan their visits better. The dashboard could predict more accurately how resources should be allocated across the clinics based on the number of patients they receive.

Some rows in the dataset are still incomplete and the latest data is from 2012, so there is potential for the data to be more accurate and comprehensive.

FutureGov also loved the graph and map tools built into Indonesia's open data portal, so you can have a peek at how a visualisation might look without even downloading the dataset. However, this doesn't seem to be available for all of the datasets and it would surely be useful to make that happen.

source: http://www.futuregov.asia