Vietnam aims to lead in e-government

In September 2010, the Prime Minister of Vietnam approved the vision for Vietnam to become a leading country in the area of IT and e-government implementation. Dr Nguyen Minh Hong, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Information and Communications, highlights that to achieve this, a lot of frameworks and regulations need to be put in place, in areas such as information security and infrastructure building.
“The application of IT has become an integral part of government management, implementation of state policies, bridging the digital gap and improving services to the people,” Dr Hong highlights the importance of government IT at FutureGov Forum Vietnam 2011, held on 14 June in Crowne Plaza West Hanoi Hotel in the Vietnamese capital.
The second annual event has attracted more than 130 senior government officials from central ministries and key municipalities of Vietnam, including three deputy ministers.
MIC is currently putting forward a proposal to the PM concerning cyber security in Vietnam towards 2020. The government has also introduced legislations concerning spam emails and safeguarding of legitimate emails. Government Circular 891 also mandates government ministries and departments to implement measures accordingly to secure their data and processes.
Dr Hong reiterates the importance of the government circular governing digital certificates and licences. He says regulations on cyber transactions are essential for a digital economy to develop.
Having introduced a Government Interoperability Framework, Vietnam has also been building national databases, covering areas such as administrative procedures and legal documents. The national database on census and population register is being completed. In addition, a national database on government circulations has recently being updated and one on land has been built. As early as 2000, the government mandated a single Geospatial Information System (GIS) platform based on the system implemented by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Standards have been built for data collection and process, and the GIS platform currently has seven layers of data.
Dr Hong also highlights to importance of growing the use of cloud computing within the government. He notes that while the government itself will become a ‘very big user’ of cloud computing, it also has a role to facilitate the use of cloud in other sectors. “Having good infrastructure is essential step for Vietnam to achieve its vision,” he says. “This will also be an opportunity for our peers and partners to share experience, exchange information and grow e-government effectively in Vietnam.”
“I hope that the sharing of experience among central and local authorities can be effective so we have to bring about the vision we have,” Dr Hong says, adding that while the government hopes to quickly realise its vision, it could not hurry or jump steps.
“Sometimes we see the goal in front of us – they look very near, but we need to keep reminding ourselves that the implementation is difficult and we need to plan and execute every step carefully,” he emphasises. Dr Hong goes on to list the factors where challenges lie: infrastructure, human capacity, implementation capabilities, and regulations. However, the government is up for the challenge. “We set ourselves the goal and we will endeavour to achieve that,” he concludes.

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