Science, technology and digital transformation have been entering life, changing many habits of people, creating ‘digital citizens’ in smart cities, contributing significantly to developing cultural, social and human values of Da Nang.

Thanh Khe District Youth Union members guide people to use online public services. Photo: TRAN TRUC

Technology changes life

On weekends, Mr. Dinh Van Hin, the Head of Ta Lang Village, Hoa Bac Commune, Hoa Vang District, concurrently Head of the Community Digital Technology Team and Project 06 of the village, along with 7 members of the team, “go to every alley, knock on every door” to promote digital transformation work to everyone.

Holding a smartphone in hand, the members of the team demonstrate how to do it, while supporting villagers to look up information, integrate the VNeID electronic identification application as well as use the online public service portal.

“Just a few years ago, digital technology was still unfamiliar to everyone here, but now most people in the commune know how to use it. More specifically, people actively promote products on social networks and cashless payment applications. The people are supported by the local government with smartphones to access the latest updates on official news as well as for entertainment purpose more conveniently. Children in families can also study online, search for study materials and lectures on the internet,” said Mr. Hin.

According to the Hoa Vang District People’s Committee, up to now, residential areas and service points in the district have covered 100% of the 4G network and broadcast 17 5G stations, thereby helping villagers with difficult circumstances to access information quickly, meeting the needs to promote socio-economic development.

The district has coordinated with telecommunications enterprises to support smartphones for poor households, helping to achieve a high rate of total population having smartphones. At the same time, a fixed broadband fiber optic cable system has been established, ensuring that 100% of the local households have access to high-speed broadband fiber optic internet services when needed; 100% of village cultural houses have free wifi...

It can be said that technology has "infiltrated" every corner thanks to the Community Digital Technology Team and Project 06 - the main force implementing the tasks of instructing basic, specific, and practical skills to the people. Through the Community Digital Technology Teams and Project 06, people have seized the opportunity to participate in the digital transformation process, contributing to promoting the transformation process to grow strongly.

For more development strides, many traditional markets across the city are gradually combining tradition and modernity to meet the increasing needs of consumers in the digital age. Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong, a souvenir and handicraft stall owner at the Han Market, and many other stall owners in the market have equipped QR codes for customers’ payments at the stall, and already posted sales posts on social networking sites and e-commerce platforms.

Ms. Phuong said: “The digital age is developing strongly, so I have to adapt myself to this growing trend promptly. If I cannot keep up with this shopping trend, it will be difficult for the stalls at the markets to survive. Along with traditional business, I have also been instructed by associations and organisations on how to use technology equipment, how to livestream to sell products through digital platforms”.
Promoting technology, digital transformation

As a leading locality in information technology (IT) in the district and district-level rankings for many consecutive years, Thanh Khe District has promoted comprehensive digital transformation in all three pillars: digital government, digital economy and digital society.

With the project ‘Developing applications of data on population, identification and electronic authentication to serve national digital transformation in the 2022 - 2025 period, with a vision toward 2030’, the Thanh Khe District People’s Committee has issued many documents to guide people to install, activate and use electronic identification accounts. Thanks to this, 166,039 electronic identification records have been collected and 133,713 accounts have been activated.

At the same time, the locality also focuses on preserving and promoting the value of cultural heritage. The Thanh Khe District People’s Committee has boosted digital promotion at two national-level relics: Mother Nhu’s house and Thac Gian Communal House. In the field of education, 36/36 public schools in the district have implemented cashless finance through banking applications, e-wallets or specialised management software...

Meanwhile, the Son Tra District People's Committee secured the leading position in the administrative reform rankings for districts for two consecutive years (2022-2023). To achieve this encouraging results, the Son Tra District People’s Committee has implemented the project to develop data applications on population, identification and electronic authentication, serving the national digital transformation period 2022-2025, with a vision toward 2030. In addition, the timely and complete updating of monthly ‘one-stop’ data is guaranteed.

Accordingly, the rate of administrative procedures providing online public services of the district is 100%. According to the survey, nearly 100% of people's evaluation votes were satisfied on the Online Public Service Portal. To increase the efficiency of using online public services and digitize records, the district aims to deploy at least 2 new open data categories, ensuring that 100% of state agencies develop and provide open data according to the city’s open data category to serve people and businesses, promoting innovation based on data.

According to the Da Nang Department of Science and Technology, the city has promoted digital transformation and smart city building, approaching it according to 3 axes: infrastructure - data - smart applications, including policies, architectural framework for orientation; infrastructure, data as the foundation; smart applications with people and businesses as the centre to evaluate effectiveness.

With a data-based decision-making model, Da Nang has implemented many good practices and solutions in providing online public services, in which the highlight is the application of data analysis tools to detect administrative procedure records that are about to expire, early warnings for agencies, units, and localities to proactively handle them promptly, avoiding delays…Compared to 2023, the rate of overdue records in 2024 decreased from 2.63% to 0.27%. In addition, building a digital society with the core subject of digital citizens is a key and decisive factor.

“In 2024, Da Nang will issue a Digital Competency Framework for Citizens, gathering all specific criteria on knowledge, skills and attitudes, helping people to participate proactively, effectively, continuously exchange, interact in the digital environment. Currently, nearly 50% of adults in the city have digital citizen accounts; 20% have personal digital signatures and digital data warehouses99% of households have smartphones.

In 2025, the city will focus resources on developing a Digital Transformation project to contribute to promoting and creating momentum for the city’s socio-economic development in the 2026 - 2030 period, with a vision toward 2035; deploying the construction of an Integrated Centre for Controlling the Resilience of Green and Smart Urban Areas in Da Nang to serve disaster prevention in a smart direction; building platforms. At the same time, the city will implement specific mechanisms and policies to develop the fields of semiconductor microchips and artificial intelligence (AI), and innovation in the city”, said Mr. Tran Ngoc Thach, the Deputy Director of the Da Nang Department of Science and Technology.

It can be said that Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation is an important “compass” for Da Nang to be able to break through and become the leading centre of innovation and digital transformation in Viet Nam.
The city aims to be in the top five leading provinces and cities nationwide and the group of leading cities in Southeast Asia in terms of potential, level of science, technology and innovation by 2030.

For the digital transformation index, e-government development, network information security and the field of semiconductor design, local AI application, the city will be in the top 3 leading cities and provinces nationwide; in the top 5 for the local innovation index PII These are tasks of strategic significance, creating a premise for the sustainable development of the city.

Reporting by MAI QUE - TRAN TRUC - Translating by A.THU