Where Is This Smart City Headed? Reflections from the “Purworejo Cerdas 2025” Forum

A few days ago, I had the opportunity to attend the Purworejo Cerdas 2025 Forum — a valuable moment to reflect on the journey of Smart City development in Purworejo. One pressing question came to mind: Where is this Smart City really going?

Launched five years ago, the Purworejo Smart City Master Plan is set to conclude in 2026. Yet, when we look at what has been achieved so far, the results appear limited. The everyday benefits of the program have not been widely felt by the public. For many, Smart City still feels like something that belongs only to the government — confined to government offices, dashboards, and systems.

But this was never the intention. A smart city should be for the people, with the people.

In the forum, I shared a key reminder: success in smart city development hinges on collaboration. Not just government working alone, but a pentahelix partnership involving government, academia, business, media, and civil society. Without this synergy, smart city initiatives risk becoming isolated and disconnected from the real needs of the community.

More importantly, I invited everyone to rethink our approach — to build a smart city that reflects the true character of Purworejo. This regency is not defined by skyscrapers or urban density. It is defined by its vibrant rural life, its strong village communities, and its social harmony. That is our strength.

That’s why I believe the future of Smart City in Purworejo lies in embracing the Smart Village model.

Instead of forcing urban-style solutions, we should focus on empowering our villages with appropriate technologies, digital literacy, and community-based innovation. A Smart Village approach is not a “lesser” version of a Smart City — it is a smarter path for regions like ours, where the real engine of life is in the villages.

Smart Villages can lead in areas such as precision agriculture, rural e-commerce, digital health, citizen reporting, disaster alert systems, and even local tourism promotion — all with a people-first mindset. When we start from the village, we’re not just building a smart city — we’re building a smart community that grows from its roots.

So let us ask ourselves not just where this Smart City is going, but how it can genuinely serve our people.

It’s time to realign our vision, rekindle cross-sector collaboration, and redefine smartness from the heart of our villages. Because a smart Purworejo doesn’t need to look like a city — it just needs to be smart in its own way.