By Citra Handayani Nasruddin, Programme Director, Tech For Good Institute, Erlanggasakti Putra, Programme Analyst For Good Institute

Southeast Asia’s (SEA) digital platforms have grown rapidly, with the region’s digital economy reaching USD263 billion in gross merchandise value in 2024, and 125,000 new users coming online every day. These platforms have evolved from simple marketplaces into essential infrastructure within national digital ecosystems—shaping how millions of people work, transact, and access services across the region. This shift presents a significant opportunity: to transform how governments engage with citizens by leveraging platforms they already trust and use daily.

A Region Poised for Platform-Enabled Governance

Governments across the region now stand at a pivotal juncture: leveraging digital platforms not just for economic growth, but for more effective public policy delivery. Early insights from the ongoing Tech for Good Institute (TFGI) study, Digital Platforms’ Benefit for Policy Implementation, suggest that platforms are uniquely positioned to help governments reach underserved populations—particularly given that over 70% of SEA’s population remains unbanked or underbanked. Platforms can accelerate cash transfers through digital payment systems, enhance regulatory enforcement, and reduce compliance costs. Ultimately, they can enable more responsive and inclusive governance.

This momentum is underpinned by rising digital maturity. According to the 2024 UN E-Government Development Index, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Brunei Darussalam have joined Thailand and Malaysia in the “Very High EGDI” group, while Singapore advanced to 3rd place globally. These developments create fertile ground for platform-enabled public service delivery.

From Digital Infrastructure to Public Impact

Just as the pandemic propelled millions of SEA users online—many for the first time, via mobile phones—it also revealed critical gaps in public service accessibility and responsiveness. Digital platforms stepped in: disbursing cash, distributing information, delivering essential goods, and even providing education.

TFGI’s initiative frames this evolution around four core capabilities that platforms offer to policymakers:

1. Accessibility: Platforms expand the reach of public services by leveraging smartphones and familiar consumer interfaces.
2. Efficiency: Real-time data and digital workflows accelerate service delivery and reduce transaction and compliance costs.
3. Scale: With pre-existing user bases in the tens of millions, platforms can rapidly scale social programmes or implement regulatory changes.
4. Agility: Built to iterate and adapt quickly, platforms offer local responsiveness essential for policymaking in SEA’s diverse and fast-evolving context.

Together, these capabilities represent a broader shift toward platform-enabled governance—where governments and platforms collaborate around shared objectives such as inclusion, accountability, and improved public services. This approach enables policymakers to move beyond one-size-fits-all solutions, creating services that reflect how people live, work, and interact in a digital society.

Understanding the Role of Platforms in Governance

There is a meaningful distinction between digitised public services and platform-enabled policy implementation. Digitisation typically refers to government efforts to move services online—through web portals or mobile apps—to improve access and convenience.

In contrast, platform-enabled implementation goes further: leveraging the infrastructure, user bases, and operational capabilities of existing digital platforms to deliver public services more effectively, efficiently, and at scale.

Several governments in the region are adopting this approach through innovative public-private collaborations:

• Indonesia: Kartu Prakerja uses private platforms to deliver workforce training and social assistance. From 2020 to 2023, it reached 4 million beneficiaries nationwide.
• Singapore: LifeSG integrates multiple public services, enabling parents to register a child’s birth, apply for a baby bonus, and obtain a library membership—all within a single application.
• Thailand: PromptPay links national IDs with mobile numbers to enable instant payments. It now serves as a key mechanism for disbursing government aid directly to citizens via their ID numbers.

Private platforms are also playing a direct role in policy implementation, particularly where speed, scale, and accessibility are critical. Their operational infrastructure and reach make them valuable partners in delivering public outcomes:

• Shopee (Indonesia): Integrated with the government’s CEISA customs system, automating data exchange and tax calculations under the Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) scheme. This streamlines customs compliance for MSMEs and enhances government oversight of cross-border trade.
• Grab: Improves road safety and supports access to social protection schemes. Telematics features like fatigue nudges encourage driver-partners to rest after long shifts, while the 2023 launch of AudioProtect led to a 5% drop in reported incidents. In Malaysia, Grab’s partnership with PERKESO boosted gig worker registrations by 60%, enrolling over 180,000 drivers in social security schemes.
• GCash (Philippines): Collaborated with the Department of Social Welfare and Development to enable pandemic relief via “light-KYC” procedures that worked on 2G devices—expanding access to the unbanked. In 2024, its partnership with Alipay+ allowed Filipino travellers to transact at over 90 million merchants globally, tripling transaction volumes.

Framing the Future: Strategic Priorities for Platform-Enabled Policy

To fully harness the potential of digital platforms in public service delivery, SEA governments should consider six strategic priorities:

1. Adopt a policy-first approach: Start with clear public objectives—such as equity, reach, or resilience—before selecting tools or technologies.
2. Engage platforms early: Involve platform partners during the policy design phase to align public goals with platform capabilities and operational realities.
3. Establish sustainable resource models: Create shared frameworks and incentives to support long-term engagement and performance.
4. Communicate roles clearly: Transparency around responsibilities and outcomes builds public trust and accountability.
5. Ensure robust data governance: Balance data accessibility with privacy protections and clear governance standards to maintain public confidence.
6. Explore regional frameworks: Strengthen ASEAN cooperation on cross-border systems—such as digital identity, payments, and data-sharing—to enable interoperable, regional-scale solutions.

Looking Ahead: Bridging Policy and Platforms for Inclusive Growth

As SEA moves further into the digital age, governments have a unique opportunity to redefine how policy is implemented. Digital platforms are no longer peripheral—they are core infrastructure. With the right strategic frameworks in place, these platforms can help bridge the last mile of service delivery, bring policy closer to the people, and set a new benchmark for inclusive, agile, and trusted digital governance.