Lesson 1: The Foundation for Digital Government

VH - Editor's Note: In the process of building an e-government and a digital society, data has become a strategic resource. The formation of national databases and the interconnection of information between sectors and fields, especially social security data, not only helps to reduce administrative procedures but also creates a foundation for modern, transparent governance and better service to the people.

On October 20th, the Prime Minister signed Decision No. 2319/QD-TTg establishing the National Steering Committee on Data. This marks a significant shift from individual direction to unified coordination, promoting the development and exploitation of the national data infrastructure…

This shifts the focus of e- government from "digitizing procedures" to "data-driven governance." Data, therefore, is not just a tool for operations, but the foundation for the administrative apparatus to function according to the principles of service, transparency, and efficiency.

National data infrastructure, a platform for connecting, sharing, and exploiting data to serve e-government.

From data connectivity requirements to institutionalization steps.

Over the past decade, the e-government process in Vietnam has gone through two main phases: digitizing processes and building core data infrastructure. Key databases such as those for population, businesses, land, insurance, health, and education have been built, gradually creating the "digital backbone" for state administration. Simultaneously, the National Public Service Portal and the electronic one-stop service systems in ministries, sectors, and localities have expanded rapidly, leading to a significant increase in the number of online applications and the rate of timely processing.

However, this achievement only reflects the phase of "bringing procedures to the digital environment." To move to the phase of "a data-driven government," a sufficiently strong institutional framework is needed to unify standards, remove bottlenecks in data sharing, and ensure security and privacy. Therefore, the establishment of the National Steering Committee on Data is significant as a national-level coordination mechanism, clarifying the roles, responsibilities, and methods of interoperability between systems that have been built in multiple phases, with various resources and at different levels.

In reality, while data is abundant, it remains fragmented, with each sector having its own "database" and each locality its own "platform," differing in format, conventions, and management methods. Data sharing largely relies on bilateral agreements or time-consuming application and approval processes. As a result, citizens and businesses still have to repeatedly declare basic information when undergoing various procedures; government agencies have to manually cross-check data, and administrative decisions lack real-time updates.

Project 06 on the development and application of population data, electronic identification and authentication has created a technical turning point by connecting population data with many specialized databases, cleaning, synchronizing, and assigning each record a unique identifier. However, technology is only half the battle. For data to truly "flow" continuously, usefully, and securely, an institutional coordinating body is needed to unify common data standards, sharing rules, access tiers, and risk control mechanisms.

The shift in mindset from a "request-and-grant administration" to a "data-driven, service-oriented administration" also demands corresponding legal guarantees. The Personal Data Protection Law of 2025, effective from January 1, 2026, establishes a framework of rights, obligations, and responsibilities in the collection, processing, storage, and sharing of personal data; it sets out principles of minimum data collection, clear purpose, informed consent, accountability, and penalties for violations.

Once a legal framework regarding privacy is established, trust in connecting and sharing data between government agencies and between the public and private sectors will be stronger. This trust is an indispensable condition for moving towards a unified data architecture, where "once declared, many times used" is no longer a slogan, but an operating principle.

Towards a Digital Government

The priority for the next phase is the integration of social security data, a group of data that directly impacts people's lives. When social insurance, health insurance, education, and labor data are synchronized with population data, every change in residence, employment, education, and health will be reflected quickly; procedures for payment, verification, referral, and school transfer will therefore be simplified.

Migrant workers can purchase and renew health insurance and access services at their actual place of residence; children moving with their families to temporary residences have easier access to school thanks to the citizen identification code system; policy review and anti-abuse measures are implemented through an automated matching mechanism instead of manual verification. When health, insurance, and education data are connected with population data, the social policy planning process becomes more accurate, up-to-date, and humane, ensuring that "no one is left behind" in the digital transformation process.

More broadly, data interconnection not only serves public administration but also creates a foundation for smart social services. Connected systems for population, transportation, healthcare, education, and employment will help forecast population needs, plan schools, hospitals, urban infrastructure, and human resources. This is the key factor in transforming data from a "static resource" into a "living energy source," fostering the development of digital government.

For data to truly become the foundation of e-government operations, the national data infrastructure must be built synchronously on three pillars. First, a shared data standard is needed so that all systems, whether at the ministerial, departmental, or local level, can communicate with each other, ensuring that data is exchanged, understood, and used consistently. Next is a sharing and security standard, clearly defining access scope, authorization mechanisms, access logs, and security responsibilities at each operational stage. And finally, but no less importantly, is a standard for data personnel – a team of data architects, integration engineers, analysts, and information security managers with sufficient capacity to maintain, protect, and effectively utilize the entire infrastructure.

At the local level, disparities in operational capacity remain significant. Therefore, on-site training mechanisms, cluster-based expert sharing, competitive recruitment for "data civil servant" positions, and public-private partnerships in training and technology transfer are solutions that need to be considered early, accompanied by evaluation criteria based on the level of data utilization in public service. Technical infrastructure, from data centers, integration and sharing platforms, cloud computing, dedicated transmission lines to backup and disaster recovery mechanisms, must be invested in according to safety standards, be ready, and have sufficient scalability.

Many organizations still maintain a local server model, which is both costly and difficult to secure. Migrating to a shared platform, leveraging a national data center, and adopting microservice architecture and API standards will be more cost-effective, flexible, and secure.

On that infrastructure, data analytics systems serving governance—from population forecasting to school and hospital planning; real-time traffic data to reorganize routes; and labor market analysis to support retraining and job placement—can truly flourish. The role of the National Steering Committee on Data in this picture is clear: not replacing the technical aspects, but acting as the "coordinating hand," developing overall plans, unifying standards, monitoring progress in data exchange, and organizing independent checks on data quality and the level of data utilization in public service.

With the coordination mechanism in place, the legal framework protecting privacy established, and the electronic identification platform widely available, the task of the entire system is to persevere in completing the "long journey" of standardization, interoperability, and data exploitation, with strict data discipline, sufficient human resources, and secure infrastructure. The ultimate goal remains unchanged: to put data in the right place, better serve the people, help make more accurate decisions, and make the system more streamlined and transparent.

Building upon the foundation of national data, e-government is entering a new phase of development, where data becomes the "central nervous system" of the entire administrative apparatus. The next step in this process must be to transform data into a powerful tool for service, so that every policy and public service accurately reflects real-world needs and aims for citizen satisfaction – the highest measure of a service-oriented administration.

(To be continued)

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/nhip-song-so/bai-1-nen-mong-cho-chinh-phu-so-177671.html