YouTube might seem an unusual medium to promote government activities, but Jakarta under its new leaders recently set a precedent. The Jakarta city government uploaded a video of a meeting between Deputy Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama and city Public Works Agency officials onto the world’s number one video-sharing website as part of a breakthrough to establish open governance.

Other regional governments and the central government could emulate the Jakarta administration’s creativity in promoting transparency and accountability in the use of public money for development programs. Everybody can access YouTube without restriction, and that is what transparency means.

In the 46-minute video of the Nov. 8 meeting, Ahok tells the Public Works Agency officials of the new Jakarta leaders’ uncompromising decision to cut the 2013 budget proposed by the agency by 25 ...