EV Hive and Jakarta’s Smart City program have launched a joint co-working space in the capital. It was officially inaugurated today.

The space, called JSCHive, will serve as a bridge between city government stakeholders and Jakarta’s burgeoning startup scene.

It offers shared office space at a relatively low cost, starting at just US$22.50 per month.

EV Hive, which is responsible for managing the space and community activities, already runs similar spaces in Indonesia’s capital. Its other locations are more expensive, typically starting at about US$75 a month. EV Hive used to be part of venture capital firm East Ventures, but recently spun out as a stand-alone business with its own management.

Jakarta Smart City is a government-backed program that bundles a number of initiatives, like open data and citizen journalism. It links up with applications like Qlue and Waze to share real-time data on traffic, emergencies, and other useful information for citizens.

Bridge between the city government and startups

“We noticed there’s not enough opportunity for startups to learn about government policies and interact with us,” said Dian Ekowati, head of communication, information technology, and statistics of the provincial government of Jakarta, at the opening event today. “We are happy that JSCHive can fill this gap and offer a platform for us to find digital solutions together.”

Besides tech startups, JSCHive also targets freelancers and small business owners.

Jakarta Smart City and EV Hive are also collaborating on a portal called Startup Jakarta, which is meant to act as a central database for all ecosystem members.