Building a "digital brain" for megacities.

In a dynamic economic hub like Ho Chi Minh City, data is not only a technological resource but also plays a decisive role in labor productivity and international competitiveness. Therefore, investing in data is a prerequisite for promoting the sustainable development of the digital economy and digital society.

According to Ms. Vo Thi Trung Trinh, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Digital Transformation Center, Ho Chi Minh City has recently implemented a shared data warehouse – a crucial platform for carrying out the digital transformation program and deploying smart city applications. The Center is coordinating with the Ho Chi Minh City Police and relevant departments and agencies to review data for digital transformation and urban management. Specifically, the city will digitize data on businesses operating under specific conditions, households, government offices, markets, supermarkets, shopping malls, social security data, house numbers, etc. The Center and related agencies have also conducted two data cleaning campaigns: one on civil registration data and another on land data.

The data is updated in real time at the Becamex Smart Operations Center ( Binh Duong Ward, Ho Chi Minh City).

These activities are part of the city's governance model transformation strategy and its "AI First" strategy. Accordingly, data is the key tool for transforming the governance model from "reacting to events" to "forecasting and creating development." The city prioritizes the application of AI and Big Data in the operation of the Smart City Monitoring and Management Center (IOC) to solve specific problems, closely linked to green transformation and energy transition…

In Ho Chi Minh City's Data Development Strategy for the period 2026-2030, with a vision to 2035, the city identifies data as a strategic infrastructure and core resource. Developing and exploiting data is a key driving force for the successful implementation of the three pillars: Digital Government, Digital Economy , and Digital Society. According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Science and Technology, during the period 2026-2030, Ho Chi Minh City will focus on building a super-scale data center – a "digital brain" – aiming to be among the top 50 smart cities in the world.

To realize this strategic direction, Ho Chi Minh City and investors are proactively approaching and implementing many large-scale data infrastructure projects. Recently, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Science and Technology and Accelerated Infrastructure Capital (AIC) signed a memorandum of understanding for strategic cooperation to develop an AI Data Center. The project, located at Lot B2-1, Tan Phu Trung Industrial Park (Cu Chi commune), is being implemented by a joint venture between AIC and Kinh Bac Urban Development Corporation, with a total estimated investment of approximately US$2.1 billion, including: data center infrastructure, equipment, power system, water supply and drainage, and graphics processing units (GPUs).

Viettel Group is also building a high-tech data center and research and development center in Tan Phu Trung Industrial Park. The project has a total designed power capacity of 140MW, with approximately 10,000 racks, meeting the high-performance computing needs of AI models and applications. In addition, one of the key data center projects in Ho Chi Minh City is the CMC Hyperscale DC SHTP Data Center, invested by CMC Technology Group in the Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park (SHTP), with a total capital of over 250 million USD.

"Investing in data centers not only helps Vietnam improve its technological capabilities, but also creates opportunities for domestic businesses to expand their scale and participate more deeply in the global technology value chain, based on advantages in operational speed, abundant technical human resources, and a desire for development," said Mr. Truong Gia Binh, Chairman of FPT Group.

BA TAN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/xay-bo-nao-so-cho-sieu-do-thi-post843563.html