Over the past decade of implementing e- government , one of the biggest bottlenecks has been the lack of interconnectedness and synchronization between information systems. Data is fragmented across ministries, departments, and localities; each place builds its own system, software, and format, leading to wasted resources and limited effectiveness in serving citizens and businesses. Data sharing is primarily based on decrees or administrative directives, lacking a sufficiently strong legal basis to compel agencies to comply.
The Law on Digital Transformation directly addresses this issue: sharing and utilizing data from national databases, specialized databases, and information systems of other agencies to streamline administrative procedures, provide online public services, and ensure seamless, non-fragmented connectivity between the central and local levels is a legal responsibility of state agencies.
A notable advancement of the Law is the mandatory requirement to comply with the National Digital Master Architecture Framework, the National Data Architecture Framework, the National Data Governance and Management Framework, the Common Data Dictionary, and related technical standards and regulations. This is the "key" to ensuring technical synchronization from the central to local levels, laying the foundation for the formation of common digital platforms, reducing duplicate investments, and improving the efficiency of public spending.
The positive impact of this regulation is also evident in the optimization of resources and the improvement of the experience for citizens and businesses. The principle of data reuse helps to end the situation where multiple agencies collect the same type of information that the State already possesses. More importantly, when databases are seamlessly connected, citizens will no longer have to repeatedly provide basic information when processing administrative procedures. This is a true measure of administrative reform in the digital environment.
Of course, there is still much work to be done between regulations and practice. First is the "technological legacy" of the public sector. In reality, the information technology systems in many government agencies are fragmented, outdated, and lack integration capabilities. Meanwhile, upgrading or replacing them to meet the new standards of the Law requires significant financial resources and a long time.
Furthermore, data connectivity is only truly meaningful when the input data is accurate, complete, clean, and up-to-date. Meanwhile, many specialized databases still contain inaccuracies and lack standardization. If connectivity is established when data quality is substandard, the interconnected system may amplify errors instead of improving management efficiency.
The elimination of data fragmentation also places significant pressure on infrastructure and information security. National interconnected systems will become the "backbone" of the digital government, requiring robust infrastructure capabilities and multi-layered security mechanisms. The cascading risk of cybersecurity breaches is a challenge that cannot be underestimated, as even a single vulnerability at the grassroots level can affect the entire system.
Another issue is individual accountability in implementation. Although the Law mentions the responsibilities of agencies, organizations, and individuals, without specific criteria for handling violations, the regulations can easily become vague, making it difficult to assign responsibility when bottlenecks or data errors occur.
Therefore, from now until the Law takes effect (July 1, 2026), the Government needs to urgently issue guiding documents for its implementation, including clear regulations on sanctions for acts of not sharing data, sharing substandard data, or hindering data interoperability.
Simultaneously, a strategy for cleaning and standardizing data is needed before widespread connectivity. Priority should be given to areas with a significant impact on citizens and businesses, focusing resources on improving data quality. Lessons learned from building the national population database show that with strong political will and systematic implementation, data bottlenecks can be completely overcome.
Investing in infrastructure and ensuring information security also needs a new, more flexible approach to financial mechanisms; establishing mandatory minimum information security standards as a prerequisite before local systems can be connected to the national interconnected network.
It can be said that the Law on Digital Transformation has effectively addressed the legal framework for digital government. However, the feasibility of the regulations will depend on the resources for implementation and the political will to address the long-standing "data islands." The law has paved the way, but for that path to lead to an effective, transparent, and people-centered digital government, a persistent, disciplined, and substantive implementation process is needed.
Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/kien-tri-ky-luat-and-thuc-chat-10401468.html
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