Digital transformation in building two-level local government is not only about bringing technology into management but also a comprehensive reform from institutions, infrastructure to people.
In the context that the Government sets a target of having 80% of administrative procedures resolved online by the end of 2025, data synchronization becomes a vital factor to ensure the system operates smoothly and effectively, serving people and businesses.
Data and online public service bottlenecks
Through field inspections in many localities, the Ministry of Science and Technology recorded the situation that many specialized databases have not been connected, interconnected and exploited in the provinces.
Specialized information systems often have problems, lose connection with the province's administrative procedure information system, or are out of sync with the National Public Service Portal.
Many localities still require people to submit their Citizen Identification Cards and photocopies for verification, even though this information is already available in the national population database.
In newly merged and split localities, many new officials lack expertise and have not been granted appropriate access to verify information in the national population database. The restructuring of administrative procedures and reduction of dossier components based on available data have not yet been implemented.
These systems do not have complete interactive electronic forms to exploit available data, do not implement digital signatures to verify information, do not return administrative procedure settlement results in electronic form; and have not deployed electronic data archives for organizations and individuals to serve data reuse.
The Ministry of Science and Technology has requested localities to fully update interactive electronic forms on all online public services, especially essential public services; at the same time, after merging data warehouses, it is necessary to quickly consolidate and put them into unified use, helping people to reuse data and results of administrative procedure settlement.
The Ministry has requested the People's Committees of the provinces to review, complete the connection and interconnection of local specialized databases with the administrative procedure settlement information system.
At the same time, ministries and branches review and fix system errors, ensure stable and synchronous connection with the National Public Service Portal. Resolution No. 214/NQ-CP dated July 23, 2025 of the Government "Issuing the Government's Action Plan on promoting data creation to serve comprehensive digital transformation."
This plan clearly defines the goals: to build and deploy a synchronous system architecture and a shared platform throughout the entire political system, connecting seamlessly from the central to local levels, ensuring connectivity and data sharing to serve the direction and reform of administrative procedures; ensuring synchronization and unity throughout the political system, implementing the goals of Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW, dated December 22, 2024 of the Politburo on "breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation and national digital transformation."
The goal is to strive for 100% of national databases and specialized databases to be reviewed, evaluated, continued to be built, supplemented and comprehensively standardized according to common standards, ensuring coverage of all areas of state management, and the ability to connect, share and integrate.
Along with that is improving the quality of online public service provision, effectively serving the direction, administration and reform of administrative procedures based on data, meeting the practical requirements of people and businesses; focusing on building, connecting and sharing data between smart operation centers to serve the direction and administration at all levels.
However, the implementation of online public service provision and the rate of online file processing at the local level are facing many difficulties and problems.
The Ministry of Science and Technology has summarized 25 remaining issues that need to be resolved and overcome in the coming time. These include the failure to issue, announce, and fully publicize internal procedures; the configuration of administrative procedures on the system is incomplete and incorrect; interactive electronic forms are not yet optimized; regulations on fees, charges, and processing time are not unified; the components of the dossier are still complicated and not yet optimized; the digitization of dossiers is still slow; the results of administrative procedure settlement are not yet provided in electronic form; and the lack of official digital signatures.
In addition, the qualifications and skills of officials, civil servants and public employees are uneven, there is a lack of training sessions; overload in receiving documents directly; online payment is not possible; there is a lack of facilities in disadvantaged communes; there is a lack of points to handle administrative procedures related to citizen identification.
There is also the fear of people when using online public services; difficulties in demarcating new communes and wards; there are still 4G signal depressions; the old electronic data management warehouse for organizations and individuals has not been exploited; the new data warehouse has no data.
Specialized databases in the province have not been connected, interconnected, or exploited; information systems provided by ministries and branches are still faulty and unstable; errors occur when logging into the VNeID electronic identification application; and errors still occur in interconnected administrative procedures.
The Ministry of Science and Technology also mentioned the situation of not providing enough data for localities to be able to carry out newly decentralized administrative procedures; the regulations on operating and exploiting the system are not complete; the connection, sharing, and synchronization of measurement and monitoring data to serve the direction and administration work; information security and network security are not guaranteed.
In response to urgent requirements, the Ministry of Science and Technology advised the Prime Minister to issue Decision No. 1565/QD-TTg dated July 18, 2025 on the Plan to improve the quality of providing online public services throughout the process; providing new personalized, data-based digital services to people and businesses. The plan aims to improve the quality of providing online public services throughout the process, aiming to achieve 80% of online administrative procedures.
Key solutions have been clearly stated, such as perfecting institutions and implementation mechanisms; adjusting and consolidating information systems for handling administrative procedures; completing national databases and shared platforms; digitizing and restructuring administrative procedures; ensuring convenient access; applying artificial intelligence; enhancing information security; training digital human resources; issuing and evaluating user experience standards.
Upgrading digital infrastructure to serve digital government
Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Duc Long said: “Digital transformation is primarily about transformation. That means we have to change our business model and governance model. This requires institutions to go first.”
According to Deputy Minister Pham Duc Long, Resolution No. 57 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation, along with five laws related to science, technology and innovation, which have just been passed by the National Assembly, have provisions on a controlled testing mechanism (sandbox), paving the way for testing new governance and business models.
With the sandbox also stipulated in the Capital Law, the Ministry of Science and Technology continues to accompany the implementation of this mechanism, creating more conveniences for people, helping to remove institutional obstacles. However, without data, there can be no real digital transformation.
Deputy Minister Pham Duc Long said that Plan No. 02-KH of the Central Steering Committee on Science, Technology, Innovation and Digital Transformation, issued on June 19, 2025, on promoting interconnected, synchronous, fast and effective digital transformation to meet the requirements of restructuring the political system's apparatus, sets the goal of building 12 key databases.
However, we have only achieved 12%. At the same time, 116 national databases and specialized databases must be put into operation by the end of 2025. In addition, by the end of 2025, 1,139 administrative procedures with document components must be replaced with data to reduce paperwork and costs.
Deputy Minister Pham Duc Long stated that the Ministry of Science and Technology has issued 55 shared digital platforms and requested ministries and sectors to deploy them for local use, avoiding duplicate investment. With these 55 key digital platforms, ministries and sectors must complete the deployment of these platforms this year and by June 2026 so that localities can use and share them.
Deputy Minister Pham Duc Long affirmed that data is the foundation. Ministries, sectors and localities need to ensure that data is “correct, sufficient, clean, alive” and especially “shareable.”
The principle is “one-time provision”: people and businesses should only provide data once, then the system must be able to reuse it, avoiding the situation of updating it over and over again.
“I would like to emphasize: the data must reach 100%. If it only reaches 95%, the entire online process cannot be deployed during operation, because the lack of data will cause interruptions. ‘Correct’ here means reaching 100%, ‘sufficient’ means having all the necessary data, ‘clean’ means no errors, ‘alive’ means always being updated and useful, especially it must be able to be shared between systems and units,” Deputy Minister Pham Duc Long stated.
When data is connected and shared smoothly, it will help make institutions more transparent and create competitive advantages; thereby, digital infrastructure and digital human resources will be increasingly promoted.
Digital government will not only be a goal but will become a reality, effectively serving people and businesses, creating the foundation for a modern, transparent and sustainably developing country./.
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/dong-bo-du-lieu-tao-thuan-loi-cho-chinh-quyen-dia-phuong-2-cap-post1054586.vnp
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