Comprehensive digital transformation for Hai Duong to make a breakthrough - Final article: Developing and utilizing high-quality human resources

The team of good engineers and IT bachelors working full-time at state agencies in the province is quite "thin". In the photo: Leaders of the Information Technology Center (Department of Science and Technology) inspect the server system at the Provincial Data Center

High quality human resources are still 'thin'

According to the latest statistics, the province currently has about 130 engineers and bachelors trained in information technology working full-time in state agencies. These human resources are mainly working at the Department of Science and Technology, the Provincial People's Committee Office, the Provincial Party Committee Office, a number of universities, high schools... in the province.

Many agencies and units lack specialized information technology human resources. Many bachelors and engineers are recruited but need to be retrained to meet the basic job of operating existing systems. Those who master technology and program and develop software can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Some IT bachelors and engineers working at district-level People's Committees admit that although they have received formal training, they have to do many jobs outside their expertise every day, so their knowledge gradually fades away.

"The information technology field changes every day. If you don't work in a professional environment, your knowledge will gradually fade away. This field requires teamwork; one person cannot develop software. To develop software, there must be a department for analysis, design, data construction, code writing, testing...", said an information technology engineer working at the Office of the People's Council and People's Committee at the district level.

The lack of specialized IT human resources in state agencies will affect the speed of digital transformation in the province. Mr. Nguyen Dong Dien, Deputy Head of the Department of Cryptography - Information Technology, Provincial Party Committee Office, said that the nature of digital transformation is that all management, direction, operation, and work resolution activities of state management agencies are carried out online, without direct contact with people and businesses. This is both scientific and transparent, and helps people and businesses monitor the status of administrative procedure processing, how far it has been processed, and when results will be received.

In the future, when the merger of commune-level administrative units is completed, the district level is abolished, and the province is consolidated, the working space will be larger. In the immediate future, all communes and wards will have public administrative service centers to receive and handle administrative procedures for people and businesses. At that time, a large number of specialized engineers and IT bachelors will be needed.

In addition to developing, upgrading, maintaining software, and securing user data, this team also has the task of "holding hands and guiding" people to enter data into specialized software, transfer it to the processing departments, monitor the processing process, and receive returned results.

The fact that people still have to go to the Provincial Public Administration Service Center, the department that receives and returns administrative procedure results at the district and commune levels as it is now shows that the province's digital transformation has not been thoroughly implemented.

"Complete digital transformation is when people only need to sit at home or anywhere with a smartphone or a computer with an internet connection to be able to handle all administrative procedures with state agencies. Online public services must be at the full level. This not only requires a strong enough technology infrastructure but also a team of IT human resources that is dense enough in quantity and specialized in quality to operate," Mr. Dien emphasized.

Need policies to attract talent

Many engineers and technology graduates after graduating from university often choose to work in businesses. In the photo: Viettel Hai Duong technical team checks the transmission system and data security firewall

Mr. Phan Tien Dung, Chairman of the Hai Duong Province Information Technology Association, said that the number of engineers and IT bachelors who return to Hai Duong to work after graduating from universities is not much. However, this number tends to find jobs in businesses to have higher income and a better working environment.

An IT engineer who graduated from Hanoi University of Science and Technology said that his group of colleagues from Hai Duong are working for a large software company in Hanoi, with an average income of 30-50 million VND/month. Meanwhile, if you want to work in a government agency, you have to go through the recruitment process, then receive a salary according to the rank or level of several million VND/month.

Mr. Dinh Bao Ngoc, Director of the Information Technology Center, Office of the Provincial People's Committee, said that in order to attract high-quality human resources in this field, the province needs to issue specific policies, in which the income level is attractive enough to attract them to work. Most state agencies have to spend money to hire units to provide, upgrade, and maintain internal software. If the province has a mechanism to support part of this resource for the existing human resources to develop, it will also be a measure to attract talent.

However, income is not everything. Professor, Dr. Ta Hai Tung, Principal of the School of Information Technology and Communications, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, said that a public service unit in Hai Duong once sent him an open letter asking him to help find an information technology engineer trained at the school to work with an income of 50 million VND/month.

"I sent information to some school groups but no students accepted. Some new graduates only receive a salary of about 20 million VND/month in Hanoi but refuse to work in Hai Duong to enjoy a higher income. The problem here is not income but a professional working environment, meaning they only specialize in the field of information technology," Mr. Tung emphasized.

The trend of students studying information technology is increasing. In the photo: Teacher and students of grade 11 IT major at Nguyen Trai High School for the Gifted in a technology class

Teacher Bui Huu Hai, Vice Principal of Nguyen Trai High School for the Gifted, said that the number of students studying information technology is increasing. Each year, the school's IT class alone has about 30 students, not to mention the math, physics, and chemistry classes, which also have many students studying information technology at universities. This is a young, talented workforce that will contribute to the development of the province.

In addition, the province needs to coordinate with local universities to develop plans and training programs related to science and technology, innovation and digital transformation, focusing on some important areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain technology, big data, etc.

Fostering, training, and improving the quality of civil servants, public employees, workers, and high-quality human resources of the province related to science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation.

Build mechanisms and policies to attract, employ and retain scientists, experts and talented people to come to the province to contribute...

GOING STRONG

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/chuyen-doi-so-toan-dien-de-hai-duong-but-pha-bai-cuoi-phat-trien-trong-dung-nhan-luc-chat-luong-cao-410892.html