Investing in infrastructure for digital government in mountainous areas

Photo caption — Mr. Mai Xuan Giang, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Muong Lat commune, Thanh Hoa province, said that collecting people's opinions on the draft documents to be submitted to the 14th National Party Congress has promoted the people's right to mastery. Photo: Viet Hoang/VNA

Identifying digital transformation, science - technology and innovation as the main driving force for economic development is a new point that clearly demonstrates the Party's comprehensive leadership viewpoint and guidelines in all fields.

Mr. Mai Xuan Giang, Vice Chairman of Muong Lat Commune People's Committee, stated that soliciting people's opinions on the draft documents submitted to the 14th National Party Congress has promoted people's mastery; increased democracy, openness and transparency in the process of preparing documents. The solicitation of opinions has gathered the intelligence, experience and enthusiasm of all people, helping the documents to be closer to reality, more comprehensive and of higher quality, creating consensus and unity in society, contributing to strengthening people's trust in the Party. Collecting people's opinions also clearly demonstrates the Party's viewpoint that "people are the root", helping policies and guidelines when issued to be suitable for reality and supported by the people.

In the draft document, digital transformation is identified as one of the important pillars of national development, contributing to building a modern, integrated and sustainable economy. This priority is determined by the strategic vision to meet the requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, when digital technology and innovation become the decisive factors in the speed and quality of socio-economic development of countries.

Mr. Mai Xuan Giang said that Muong Lat is a mountainous border commune with many difficulties, but the Party Committee, government and people of Muong Lat commune have made efforts to master technology, increase the use of social networks, and create a new step in digital transformation. The commune has successfully implemented many typical and outstanding models such as: "Building a friendly government to serve the people"; "Security and order monitoring cameras"... In particular, Muong Lat commune has equipped an online meeting room with full equipment to meet the needs of seamless connection from the commune, province and central levels; the commune's broadcasting system contributes to effectively implementing the propaganda work of local political tasks. The commune directs the strengthening of digital transformation in each field, strives to increase the administrative reform index, gradually eliminates the processing of work by paper documents, contributing to saving the annual budget; reduces inconvenience for people in carrying out related administrative procedures.

However, for mountainous border communes with many difficulties, digital transformation is facing many "barriers" such as weak infrastructure, lack of internet, electricity, and equipment. People and officials are not familiar with using digital devices or online services; there is a lack of technology human resources because few people have digital skills to guide and support the community; limited financial resources make it difficult to invest in equipment, software, networks, etc.

To promote digital transformation in mountainous areas, the State needs to synchronously implement many solutions such as expanding the internet network, 4G/5G coverage to villages and hamlets; investing in power grids and digital devices; organizing training and instructing people on how to use smartphones and online public services; bringing digital knowledge into schools and general education classes; fostering technology skills, data management, and electronic record processing for commune and village officials; having policies to prioritize capital, equipment, and infrastructure for mountainous and border areas; encouraging telecommunications and technology enterprises to invest with preferential policies...

Deputy Director in charge of Tam Chung Commune Public Service Center Le Van Binh said that considering digital transformation as a pillar along with science, technology, and innovation opens up opportunities for localities to build digital government, contributing to promoting modern governance, serving people and businesses more effectively.

Identifying digital transformation as an inevitable trend and a key task, immediately after operating under the 2-level local government model, Tam Chung Commune Public Service Center has proactively deployed many innovative solutions in management, operation and service provision methods towards digitalization. The Center has built and operated digital platforms such as Facebook page, Fanpage and YouTube channel connected to the IP smart loudspeaker system installed in the villages. Propaganda content is edited and dubbed with artificial intelligence (AI) voice, combined with illustrative images and videos... Thanks to that, policies, information on natural disaster warnings, vaccination, agricultural production... reach people faster, more vividly, creating a two-way information channel between the government and the people, helping to handle feedback and recommendations more promptly and effectively.

Mr. Le Van Binh also frankly stated that, with the characteristics of a highland border commune, digital transformation faces many difficulties in terms of infrastructure. Many devices have degraded, the internet in some remote villages is not stable, affecting the reception and transmission of information. The staff is still small, most of them holding multiple positions, and digital skills are not uniform. Producing and editing digital content requires considerable expertise, technique and time. In addition, access to digital technology by a part of the population, especially ethnic minorities, is still limited; the habit of receiving information through traditional loudspeakers or word of mouth is still common. These factors partly affect the progress and effectiveness of digital transformation implementation at the grassroots level.

In order for the local digital transformation work to achieve better results, the Provincial People's Committee and departments and branches need to pay more attention to investing in information technology infrastructure and technical equipment; organizing specialized training programs on digital transformation and multimedia content production for grassroots officials. Telecommunications enterprises and technology organizations continue to accompany and support the connection of remote and isolated areas, contributing to the successful implementation of the goal of comprehensive digital transformation at the grassroots level.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/dau-tu-co-so-ha-tang-cho-chinh-quyen-so-o-vung-cao-20251107084223383.htm