Son Dong Commune: Improving digital literacy for people, a driving force for sustainable poverty reduction

BAC NINH - In the context that Bac Ninh province is promoting the construction of digital government, digital economy and digital society, the need to "improve digital skills" for grassroots officials and people is becoming more urgent. In Son Dong commune, the locality has proactively organized training on digital transformation skills, implementing a variety of methods to support people in accessing information associated with the goal of economic development and sustainable poverty reduction.

Update practical, easy-to-apply digital knowledge

Recently, more than 300 trainees who are Party cell secretaries, village heads, deputy village heads, union heads, community digital technology group members, representatives of typical production and business households in Son Dong commune attended a training course to improve their knowledge of digital transformation. This is a meaningful activity under Project 6 - Sub-project 1, National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction by 2025. After disseminating the latest documents of the Government and ministries and branches on digital transformation at the commune level, trainees were directly guided by a reporter from the Department of Science and Technology to practice skills in installation, electronic identification via VNeID, submitting administrative procedures online, and applying AI/ChatGPT in daily work.

Instructing people of Son Dong commune to apply digital transformation in information and communication work at the grassroots level.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, Deputy Director of the Center for Information Technology and Communications (Department of Science and Technology), to participate in the digital environment, people must master technology and immediately apply it to daily work. Therefore, the training program content is designed to be close, easy to understand, and related to life, helping students to apply it immediately in their daily work.

The classroom atmosphere was lively, many questions related to rural life in mountainous areas were raised and answered on the spot. Thanks to that, grassroots propaganda officers not only "know" about technology but also use it proficiently to disseminate directive documents and policy information in easy-to-understand, easy-to-remember, easy-to-spread language.

Leaving the digital transformation knowledge training class, we were introduced to Phu Hung village by Son Dong commune officials. This is a village with 121 households, more than 500 people, of which 70% are San Chi, Cao Lan, Tay, Nung people... most adults have smartphones. Mr. Hoang Van Hoach, Secretary of Phu Hung village Party Cell shared: "If in the past, information was only transmitted one way through loudspeakers or village meetings, now people are gradually getting used to two-way interaction channels on cyberspace. In the past, when preparing for a village meeting, we had to go to each household to send invitations, but since the establishment of a common Zalo group, all information about the village's work implementation, news about security and order, fraud warnings, and weather conditions have reached people in just a few minutes. This method is faster, more effective and more intimate." Thanks to being equipped with digital skills, every information and report now has a “digital trace”, shown through images, posting time, and transparent content. When there is anything unclear, people can ask questions and the village cadres will answer and resolve their problems immediately.

People in Phu Hung village apply science and technology in production to bring high income.

From changing awareness to concrete actions, local people have also begun to "digitalize" in production and business. A typical example is Ms. Nong Thi Chi's family, who currently grows more than 30,000 banana trees. To improve farming efficiency, the family installed an automatic irrigation system, used drones to spray pesticides on crops; regularly updated images of the banana garden on social networks to promote and connect consumption. In 2024, after deducting expenses, income from selling bananas (fruits, leaves) reached more than 3 billion VND.

Upgrading infrastructure, developing the "digital literacy" movement

Son Dong commune was established on July 1, 2025 on the basis of merging Vinh An and An Lap communes and An Chau town (old Son Dong district). With a large area of ​​over 24,000 people, 33 villages, and many ethnic minorities living there, the commune always identifies information and communication work, information management for grassroots officials and people as important, "paving the way" to effectively implement multidimensional poverty reduction policies.

In fact, recently, after the arrangement of the 2-level government, the commune's electronic one-stop system continues to operate stably, with a high rate of on-time file processing. In villages and hamlets, many business households have become familiar with cashless payments, promoting their typical products on online sales channels. Many typical traditional products such as: Honey, yeast wine, rice noodles... from being popularly consumed in traditional markets are now appearing more and more in online markets, reaching far and wide in the national market, bringing significant income to production households.

Mat village cultural house has been invested in and upgraded to become more and more spacious.

Digital transformation in Son Dong is not a "do it for show" movement, but the right choice for sustainable development. According to the orientation for the 2025 - 2030 term, Son Dong strives to achieve a rate of 100% of commune-level work records processed online, 80% of people and businesses using online public services; by the end of 2027, the commune will have no more poor households according to multidimensional standards. These are heavy tasks but can be completely achieved with the determination of the leaders of the Party Committee, government and local people.

To achieve the above goal, the commune leaders shared many solutions, including continuing to train, update, and improve digital transformation knowledge for grassroots officials and people. Paying attention to developing information infrastructure, supplementing cultural institutions and equipment for villages. Further promoting the role of the Community Digital Technology Team, considering them as active propagandists to disseminate knowledge and improve digital literacy for people. Coordinating with network operators to review and cover telecommunications to each village and hamlet, creating a solid foundation to spread the "popular digital literacy" movement as a driving force for development, towards the goal of "no one is left behind in the digital age".

 

Article and photos: Mai Toan

 

Source: https://baobacninhtv.vn/xa-son-dong-nang-trinh-do-so-cho-nguoi-dan-dong-luc-de-giam-ngheo-ben-vung-postid430613.bbg