Digital transformation towards a smart new rural area.

SGGPO 22/08/2023 16:37

On August 22nd, in Da Nang , the Central Committee of the Vietnam Veterans Association (VVA) organized a seminar titled "Digital Transformation in Building New Rural Areas, Towards Smart New Rural Areas in the 2021-2025 Period" for veterans from 15 provinces and cities in the Central and Central Highlands regions.

At the seminar, Lieutenant General Be Xuan Truong, Chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Association, stated that digital transformation in agriculture and rural areas is a crucial solution to help farmers and businesses produce high-quality agricultural products at low costs but with high profits, contributing to accelerating the proportion of digital agriculture in the production, processing, market, and digital economy chains.

General Be Xuan Truong, Chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Association , speaks at the seminar. Photo: Xuan Quynh

According to the Economic Committee (Central Committee of the Vietnam Veterans Association), by 2025, all programs will be built synchronously and uniformly on a digital platform, with at least 60% of commune-level work files processed online; at least 97% of communes will meet standard 8.4 of criterion 8 on Information and Communication according to the National Criteria for New Rural Communes. At least 70% of communes will have cooperatives, 70% of districts will have production linkage models associated with the consumption of key agricultural products, and 50% of linkage models associated with raw material areas will apply digital technology. The goal is for each province and centrally-governed city to have at least one pilot model of a smart new rural commune in its most outstanding field.

Vietnam has great potential for digital transformation; however, to date, the percentage of people using online public services is only over 50%, and the percentage of online applications processed remains low at around 10%. Database development is lagging, and cybersecurity is still vulnerable. Resources for applying information technology are limited. The economy in some mountainous areas, especially in the Central Highlands, still faces many difficulties.

At the seminar, delegates from 15 provinces and cities in Central Vietnam and the Central Highlands focused on exchanging and discussing the current state of digital transformation in their localities.

Referring to rural districts in Da Nang, Mr. Le Son Phong, Deputy Director of the Department of Information and Communications of Da Nang City, said that Hoa Vang district has completed 15 out of 20 digital transformation goals, including 7 goals exceeding the plan… In the coming time, the district needs to strive for each household (poor and near-poor households) to have a smartphone to access digital services provided by the government and businesses. In addition, it is necessary to promote digitalization, build digital data and digital platforms in building new rural areas, such as building digital maps of agriculture, rural areas, and farmers to share and provide open data; building digital maps of rural tourism to connect, introduce, and promote local tourism products; identifying unique OCOP products and handicrafts of communes and villages using Blockchain technology; and bringing typical local products to e-commerce platforms to increase product value and expand markets.

Representatives from the Veterans Association of 15 provinces and cities visited the activities of the People's Committee of Hoa Nhon commune (Hoa Vang district, Da Nang city).

According to Mr. Pham Ngoc Thach, representative of the Lam Dong Provincial Veterans Association, all levels of the association need to apply diverse forms and methods of education and propaganda, focusing on combining traditional methods with the application of information technology achievements. They should combat and overcome erroneous and deviant perceptions and behaviors among association officials, such as the belief that the implementation of the National Target Program for building new rural areas and digital transformation is only the responsibility of specialized agencies and departments; and improve the quality of the Provincial Veterans Association's website and related Zalo groups to promptly reflect association activities and highlight exemplary individuals…

According to Mr. Le Phuoc Mien, representative of the Veterans Association of Quang Tri province, it is necessary to create pilot models of veterans' associations within the Digital Transformation Program for building new rural areas for observation, learning, and implementation.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/chuyen-doi-so-huong-toi-nong-thon-moi-thong-minh-post702596.html