Entitled “A Round with the Creative, Digital and Film Communities,” the event took place at Soehana Hall, in the Energy Building in SCBD, Central Jakarta, on Jan. 14.

The first candidate to appear on the stage was Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama. He came without his running mate, Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat, and brought guitarist Nikita Dompas instead to accompany him when he read a poem entitled Negeriku (Motherland) by Ahmad Mustofa Bisri at the end of his session.

He started his 20-minute presentation by thanking the digital communities for spreading facts to counter hoaxes that had stirred up the public amid the political tension rolling up to the election day on Feb. 15.

“The daily lives in Jakarta cannot be separated from digital technologies,” he said, promising that Jakarta would have 2,600 kilometers of fiber optic cables installed under the city’s sidewalks during his administration.

“We expect the city to have up to a 4.5G network with quality on par with Singapore by 2018. Owners of all commercial buildings have since last year been required to provide the fiber optic infrastructure on the roads when extending their building use certificates.”

For nomadic digital entrepreneurs, his administration has transformed a floor in the Jakarta Smart City Lounge at the City Hall compound into a co-working space.

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Another one designed for fashion businesses is still under construction in a low-cost apartment complex in Waduk Melati, Central Jakarta. It is to be ready in July. Also in the pipeline is a shared manufacturing space to be located in Kuningan, South Jakarta, that will provide, among other things, 3D printers.

“We have made a breakthrough by legalizing virtual offices in Jakarta,” said the governor.

To support film businesses, the administration has opened City Hall and other administration offices after hours and on weekends for film screenings.

“Next is renovating the old buildings in Kota Tua and turning some of them into theaters playing only indie films,” said Ahok.

Arrived later were Anies Baswedan and running mate Sandiaga Uno, who focused on their leadership style, underlining collaboration with communities in setting up policies and regulations.

“The nature of bureaucracy is to execute orders, but it is lacking when coming up with ideas. It contradicts society or those in digital and creative businesses. A collaboration will complement each other in creating good things for Jakarta.

“Digital and creative businesses can also help the administration in entrepreneurial workshops in line with our mission to provide more job opportunities,” said Anies. “You tell me what you need and then we prepare the regulations and the procedures. We aim to take sides with community-based industries.”

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The last contender, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, who also showed up without his running mate, Sylviana Murni, got brownie points for preparing a slide show about his ideas for “a smart, creative and green city.”

He promised to build an iconic structure, a community center to be called the Kedai Jakarta (Café Jakarta), which would be equipped with a highspeed internet connection and also be used as a co-working space and a meeting venue for community groups, where they could “exchange ideas for people empowerment.”

“With Kedai Jakarta, we directly encourage citizens to be more independent. We don’t need workshops or designated spaces, but a public space where we can gather and create something together,” said Agus, who made a video for something called the “mannequin challenge” with the audience before the event ended.

PARFI56 chairperson Marcella Zalianty and Bukalapak CEO Achmad Zaky said the purpose of the event was to help undecided voters in the arts community interact with the candidates.

“We’d like to know how the government and the city will benefit from the inevitable digital revolution,” said Achmad. “And while the candidates debate live on TV, we all know that the actual debates take place on social media.”