Improving the institutional framework for the national digital transformation process.

The 15th National Assembly voted to pass the Law on Digital Transformation.

The law comprises 8 chapters and 48 articles, comprehensively regulating the principles, policies, coordination mechanisms, and responsibilities of agencies, organizations, and individuals, while also clarifying the pillars of digital government, digital economy , and digital society.

The law, effective from July 1, 2026, lays the foundation for Vietnam to implement a unified, secure, effective, and user-centric digital transformation.

User-centric approach, promoting connectivity and data sharing.

The Law on Digital Transformation is built on a user-centric perspective, considering it the foundation for all digitalization activities. A key highlight is the "one-time declaration" principle, enhancing connectivity, sharing, and reuse of data, helping to reduce procedural duplication, improve management efficiency, and enhance decision-making capabilities.

In addition, the Law requires ensuring cybersecurity, protecting data and privacy as prescribed; flexible implementation adapting to the rapid development of technology; and ensuring inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability for all decisions based on digital technology .

The law also encourages linking digital transformation activities with continuous measurement, evaluation, monitoring, and improvement to enhance service quality. State agencies are responsible for complying with these principles, while non-state organizations and businesses are encouraged to apply them in their operations.

Article 7 of the Law on Digital Transformation also clearly stipulates the principles of digital system architecture and design. Systems must be designed to utilize digital platforms and shared components, effectively exploit cloud computing infrastructure, ensure flexible scalability, and optimize costs.

The law affirms that data is central, and that data must be collected, managed, shared, declared once, and used efficiently to improve decision-making and service quality. The system must be designed based on open standards and architecture, supporting connectivity and integration from the outset, with standardized application programming interfaces that facilitate data sharing and interoperability between systems.

Users are placed at the center of the digital system design process, ensuring convenience, accessibility, ease of use, and suitability for a wide range of target groups, including marginalized and vulnerable populations.

Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung presented a report explaining, incorporating feedback, and revising the draft law before the National Assembly voted on it.

Prioritize the development of digital infrastructure and high-quality human resources.

Article 9 of the Law on Digital Transformation stipulates the State's policy system on digital transformation, emphasizing the development of a unified, secure, reliable, and scalable digital infrastructure. The State promotes the formation and development of digital data, encourages the development and use of shared digital platforms, open digital platforms, and digital technology products and services to serve governance and socio-economic development.

The State's policy on digital transformation also includes ensuring cybersecurity and data protection; encouraging innovation, controlled experimentation, and the application of new digital technologies. The State supports businesses, cooperatives, and business households in implementing digital transformation, especially small and medium-sized enterprises and businesses operating in areas with difficult or extremely difficult socio-economic conditions.

Regarding attracting and utilizing talent for digital transformation, Article 18 stipulates that state agencies and enterprises are allowed to hire experts and collaborators from both within and outside the country; individuals with outstanding achievements in this field will be honored and rewarded. At the same time, officials and employees working on digital transformation in agencies within the political system will enjoy special benefits in terms of salary, allowances, working conditions, and career development opportunities.

Measuring, monitoring, and ensuring the effectiveness of digital transformation implementation.

To ensure effective implementation, the Law on Digital Transformation stipulates that the State management agency for digital transformation is responsible for developing and publishing a unified set of indicators to assess the level of digital transformation, and for building, managing, and operating a platform for statistics, measurement, monitoring, and evaluation of digital transformation implementation. Annual assessments of the level of digital transformation at the national, ministerial, sectoral, and local levels are conducted; the assessment results are publicly announced and serve as the basis for ranking, rewarding, adjusting policies, and prioritizing funding for agencies and localities.

Regarding digital government, the Law on Digital Transformation requires state agencies to be responsible for providing public services, internal governance, and operations in a digital environment, except where otherwise stipulated by law. Directives and operational activities must be based on complete, accurate, and timely digital data. Business processes must be reviewed, standardized, restructured, ensuring efficiency, avoiding duplication, and increasing automation.

Administrative procedures are provided by default as full-process online public services, only switching to a partial online format in cases where the law stipulates otherwise or when technical problems cannot be resolved immediately. State agencies are responsible for guiding and supporting citizens, publicly disclosing the application processing procedures and results, and strictly penalizing officials who request additional documents when the system has already connected to the national database or specialized databases.

National Assembly delegates attending the session.

The Law on Digital Transformation is a major step forward in institutionalizing the Party and State's policy on national digital development. The enactment of this law demonstrates the determination to build a comprehensive legal framework, creating momentum for the development of the digital economy and digital society, aiming towards an efficient digital government that serves citizens and businesses.

The Law on Digital Transformation will come into effect on July 1, 2026.

The Law on Information Technology No. 67/2006/QH11 shall cease to be in effect from the date this Law comes into effect, except as provided in Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 48 of this Law.

HIEP DUC

Source: https://nhandan.vn/hoan-thien-the-che-cho-tien-trinh-chuyen-doi-so-quoc-gia-post929548.html