E-government Development Keeps Accelerating

Mr Le Manh Ha, Vice Chairman of the Government Office and Commissioner of the National Commission on Information Technology Application, confirmed that the effectiveness of the government depends heavily on information technology. Without transparency, it is impossible to improve working efficiency. And, to be transparent, in addition to policies is only information technology. This is also a pressing task and requirement in the process of integration. For over 10 years, the Government of Vietnam has identified that information and communication technology (ICT) plays an important role in the national economy and serves as one of driving forces for socioeconomic development of the country. 2015 is the last year of the National Programme for Information Technology Applications in the operation of State agencies, starting in 2011. Although it has made clear progress on the roadmap for a comprehensive e-government, the targets to be achieved by 2020 still pose a lot of difficulties for Vietnam.

 

According to attendants to the conference, IT application to e-Government development has been deployed and expanded in recent years. Ms Vo Thi Trung Trinh, Deputy Director of the Department of Information and Communications of HCM City, said the city has actively promoted IT application development in municipal administration from 2010 to 2015. Applications deployed included Electronic Office, Specialised Operations and Electronic Single Window. Mr Nguyen Quang Thanh, Deputy Director of the Department of Information and Communications of Danang City, said Danang City has also deployed the cloud data centre model powered by open source platforms, including Windows Server 2012 R2, System Centre 2012 R2 and Data Centre 2012, to support e-government infrastructure. With effective IT application, the reform of administrative procedures in districts in Danang City has produced many positive changes.

 

At the back of the internet boom, ICT applications in the health sector, called E-Health in Vietnam, have drawn much attention of the public and carried out initial steps. 2015 is the last year of the first phase of the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) roadmap issued by the Ministry of Transport. In Vietnam, ITS has been implemented for recent years and achieved very positive initial results. The ITS application in Vietnam is quite favourable thanks to rapid infrastructure development, policies, strategies and priorities for development investment.

 

However, according to delegates, e-government development is still sporadic, unsynchronised and over-involved from level to level. E-Health is one of the key areas that given priorities from the health sector to invest and develop. However, in practice, the application of the E-Health in Vietnam’s hospitals today has just involved office work, statistics and reports for individual part as personnel management, hospital fee, pharmaceutical warehouse management and patient turnover management. Facilities, software and capability application are not commensurate with the potential as well as the mission of the health sector.

 

According to the United Nations E-Government Survey 2014, Vietnam globally ranked 99th out of 193 countries for E-Government Development Index, especially in Asia, ranked 26^th out of 47 countries, surpassing Malaysia and Thailand. Results of the survey are determined based on three components: Online services, telecommunications infrastructure and human capital. Besides, for the Networked Readiness Index, the World Economic Forum also ranked Vietnam at 85 out of 143 nations in its report in April 2015, one rank lower than the previous year.

 

According to Mr Le Manh Ha, the biggest hindrance in e-government deployment is because some officials and leaders of State agencies are ignorant of IT and unwilling to apply IT, resulting in hardships in public administration reform, red tape and lack of transparency in operations of State agencies. This lack of transparency will significantly impact economic growth and even lose public confidence.

 

To effectively operate e-government, all provinces and cities are required to apply the electronic document processing system and this system must be applied simultaneously from the grassroots commune level to district, province and Government level, he added. “Then, administration will be quick and effective," he stressed. Besides, the success of e-government deployment depends on commitments of local leaders.

 

Alongside with the Conference, Vietnam E-Government Technology Expo 2015 showcased a wide range of state-of-the-art products and cutting-edge technologies in communication infrastructure, database centres, big data, cloud computing, national authentication system, connection centres, typical data management and sharing solutions, information security, e-healthcare records, traffic management systems, and surveillance equipment. In addition, visitors were provided with the opportunity to exchange and discuss issues of concerns with leading service providers.