Hanoi tests series of AI data initiatives, smart cities

In the national digital transformation picture, Hanoi always plays a leading role with the largest data scale, complex industrial and urban service ecosystem and many pioneering pilot models. At the end of 2025, the City will enter a period of strong transformation when simultaneously researching and preparing to deploy strategic initiatives to shape the model of "AI First living data, smart city" according to international standards. This is not only an effort to digitize the process, but also aims to restructure the entire way the industry operates, shifting from manual reporting mechanisms to real-time data-based operations, while placing artificial intelligence at the center of the system's design thinking.

Illustration of the " Hanoi smart city" model with data connection, AI and digital traffic, towards real-time urban management.

One of the important highlights is the proposal to implement the “90-day campaign to collect live data in the health sector”. The Hanoi Department of Health will automatically connect data from 01 to 03 pilot hospitals, thereby forming a continuous data flow to the central system.

In a short time, the capital's health sector must have the first real-time Dashboard, displaying key indicators such as number of visits, hospital bed capacity, emergency and paraclinical conditions, waiting time, etc. This will be a breakthrough in management methods, paving the way for the formation of the Hanoi Health Data Lake.

Unlike traditional data warehouses, Data Lake allows the integration of multi-structured data from EMR, PACS, LIS to HIS, creating a shared “data asset” for operations, preventive medicine and epidemic forecasting. A healthcare data coordination system will also be formed to ensure data is transparent, accurate and secure.

In parallel with creating a data platform, Hanoi aims to put AI at the heart of professional processes, first in the field of diagnostic imaging. The city plans to launch a “three-month sprint” to pilot AI at a group of leading public hospitals.

The model must operate stably, have an effective measurement index system, support doctors in reading X-rays, CT, MRI films, contribute to reducing the workload, and increase the quality of medical examination and treatment. In the context that many countries choose healthcare as the starting field for AI application, if this model is successful, it will create an important driving force, helping Hanoi to quickly advance in the AI-First strategy and expand to other fields.

The city is also researching to turn Xanh Pon General Hospital into a smart hospital, where all medical examination and treatment, financial, administrative and human resource coordination processes are digitized and automated at a high level.

Another breakthrough direction is that Hanoi assigned the Department of Science and Technology to research and develop strategic technologies in the priority list in Decision 1131/QD-TTg. Technologies such as the Vietnamese AI platform, Digital Twins and real-time sensor and analysis systems will be researched according to the “3-house” model: State – Scientist – Entrepreneur. When the technology reaches maturity, the City will promote the formation of startups or spinoffs to commercialize products, serve domestic needs and gradually move towards export. This is a strategic move: not only applying technology but also being autonomous in production and mastering technology.

At the industrial level, Hanoi is considering piloting a model to support the incubation of Vietnamese-brand computer manufacturing enterprises, based on the innovation sandbox mechanism under Resolution 29/2025/NQ-HDND.

In the context of Vietnam’s computer and digital equipment industry being heavily dependent on foreign enterprises, Hanoi’s pioneering in building a chain of autonomous enterprises is an important signal for the national electronics industry strategy. If R&D support, experimental sandbox, market connection and supply chain are effectively combined, Hanoi can become a Make in Vietnam digital equipment manufacturing center in the near future.

Along with data and technology, the City is also preparing to build the Project “Developing Smart Hanoi by 2030”. The project’s thinking is shaped in the direction that technology is just a means, while the ultimate goal is to improve the quality of life of the people. The project is chaired by the City Police, in coordination with the Department of Construction and the Department of Science and Technology, aiming to build a comprehensive smart urban model with synchronous digital infrastructure, data security and safety, real-time urban management, smart traffic and green – clean – sustainable urban space.

Overall, Hanoi's new initiatives are converging into three strategic pillars, including: Living Data and Data Lake creating a unified data resource platform; AI-First thinking bringing artificial intelligence to the core of all operational processes; and smart urban, Digital Twins allowing simulation, forecasting and city management in real time.

If implemented synchronously and drastically, Hanoi can completely become a "miniature digital nation", a model of innovation and digital transformation in Vietnam, where data, technology and people are seamlessly connected to create real value for the society and economy of the capital.

Center for Science and Technology Communication

Source: https://mst.gov.vn/ha-noi-thu-nghiem-loat-sang-kien-du-lieu-ai-do-thi-thong-minh-197251201221524654.htm