Synchronize to improve e-Governance index

HNN - Hue City's E-Governance Index in 2024 has improved compared to the previous year, but has not yet met expectations. This reality requires continued efforts and more drastic and synchronous solutions so that the city can maintain its role as one of the pioneering localities in administrative reform and digital transformation.

People of Thuy Xuan ward, Thuan Hoa district perform administrative procedures on online public services

The numbers speak for themselves.

The Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) 2024, recently announced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam in collaboration with the Center for Community Support and Development Studies ( CECODES ), has achieved many results in the 8 survey contents, but the e-Governance index, an important pillar of e-government and digital government, remains low, with only 3.31 points.

Compared to 2023, this index has improved, but in the overall picture of the goal of building an e-government, this number is still a concern. According to PAPI 2024, Hue City scored high in several important pillars: Public service provision 8.14 points, Control of corruption in the public sector 7.22 points and Public administrative procedures 7.19 points. These indexes reflect the remarkable efforts of the city government in administrative reform and providing quality public services.

In addition to these positive results, there are 3 indicators that are still low and need special attention: E-Governance (3.31 points), Environmental Governance (4.04 points) and Accountability to the people (4.30 points). In which, E-Governance is an important foundation for operating digital government, building open data and improving people's satisfaction. In 2024, the PAPI Program Organizing Committee surveyed hundreds of people in many communes and wards in Hue City. The results showed that there is still a gap between the government and the people in applying information technology and accessing online public services, especially at the grassroots level.

According to Mr. Tran Minh Long, Deputy Director of the Department of Home Affairs, the e-Governance Index is still low due to many reasons, both objective and subjective. Among them, limitations in information technology infrastructure in some localities, the fear of using online public services of people and civil servants, along with shortcomings in the organization of the apparatus for receiving administrative records... are the main factors. In fact, the current model of the Public Administration Service Center (PASC) and the One-Stop Shop (OSS) at all levels still has shortcomings: professional civil servants have to take on many roles, there is a shortage of human resources at the root unit, and support policies are not consistent, leading to low efficiency in processing records, especially electronic records.

Synchronous engagement

Hue City has issued a project to assign public postal enterprises to perform part of the public administrative tasks at the Center for Public Administration and Public Service at all levels. This is considered a breakthrough step towards a streamlined and effective digital government model. According to the project, postal enterprises will perform all stages: Guiding, receiving, digitizing records, returning results of administrative procedure settlement (TTHC), collecting fees and creating electronic documents. The scope of transfer covers 100% of administrative procedures at the city, district and commune levels - depending on the specific roadmap from the first quarter to the fourth quarter of 2025.

According to Mr. Le Minh Cuong, Head of the Administrative Reform Department, Department of Home Affairs, transferring public administrative tasks to enterprises not only aims to improve service quality, professionalism and save resources, but is also a strategic step to promote digital transformation. This solution is expected to create positive changes, contributing to improving the city's e-Governance index.

The highlight of the project is the digitization of all records, results of administrative procedure settlement and integration into the city's administrative procedure settlement information system. This system will be upgraded to ensure that it meets technical requirements, connects data with specialized databases, connects with the National Public Service Portal, complies with current regulations on digitizing records, performing administrative procedures in the electronic environment and technical standards of the system at the ministerial and provincial levels.

Member of the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee Nguyen Thanh Binh said: "The city has determined that it must shift from manual management to digital management, from traditional citizen reception to digital citizen service. The project of assigning tasks to businesses is a test of the spirit of real administrative reform, for the people and businesses."

For the project to be successful and contribute to improving the e-Governance index, the entire system needs to be involved. In particular, the Department of Science and Technology, the unit in charge of technical advice; the Department of Home Affairs monitors the impact on staff streamlining; the Department of Finance guides the development of budget estimates and budget allocation; postal enterprises ensure service quality and personnel... People need to be informed and guided on how to use digital services.

“The important thing is the spirit of reform in each cadre and civil servant, the willingness to change working mindset, accept professionalization, and cooperate with businesses to better serve the people,” Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh emphasized.

The e-Governance Index is not simply a ranking number. It is a measure of the friendliness, transparency and modernity of the government. When people can perform most administrative procedures right on their smartphones, when data is connected and secured, when the processing time is only a matter of minutes, that is when digital government is truly present.

With such drastic steps as now, Hue City is showing its determination to not only improve the index, but also improve the quality of governance. If done well, the e-Governance index will no longer be a "weakness", but will become a "fulcrum" for Hue to rise stronger in the digital age.

Article and photos: HAI THUAN

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/chinh-tri-xa-hoi/cai-cach-hanh-chinh/dong-bo-de-nang-chi-so-quan-tri-dien-tu-154183.html