Hà Nội to accelerate digital transformation, focus on measurable results

Last year, Hà Nội jumped 16 places in the Digital Transformation Index (DTI) to rank 24th out of 63 cities and provinces.

The capital city of Hà Nội has been rolling out multiple initiatives to accelerate digital transformation, as experts agree that technology application is key to growth.

One of the key guidelines for the city's digitalisation process is Resolution No 18-NQ/TU of the city’s Party Committee on digital transformation and smart city development to 2025, with a vision to 2030 which was issued in November 2022.

Last year, Hà Nội jumped 16 places in the Digital Transformation Index (DTI) to rank 24th out of 63 cities and provinces.

The capital city placed 18th nationwide in the digital economy development index (up 20 ranks compared to 2021), and 30th in the digital society development index (up 17 ranks compared to 2021).

The city’s departments and district-level People’s Committee have also been working with tech companies to issue nearly 39,000 digital signatures free of charge for Hà Nội citizens, with the aim of facilitating transactions and procedures on digital platforms.

In the central Hoàn Kiếm District, a campaign has been launched to promote cashless payments, which is considered a pilot to scale up the model to the entire city.

Hà Minh Hải, vice chairman of Hà Nội People’s Committee said: “It is a must to eliminate formality in digital transformation.

“Our actions must be practical, effective and lead to measurable results.”

People working in digital transformation must pioneer and be determined to shift the working processes to inspire and lead others, he added.

Leverage data for growth

Experts believe that it is a must to accelerate data utilisation to generate more value for both businesses and their customers.

This is an aspect that many companies are facing challenges in their digital transformation progress, having moved past concerns about funding, human resources and the transition period.

With rich experiences in providing digital services to approximately 500,000 businesses in Việt Nam, Viettel Group pointed out that some of the main obstacles in digital transformation today are a matter of data integration and connection, in addition to data quality for management and operations, exploring new values and making decisions based on data, and the application of artificial intelligence (AI) among businesses.

Sharing the same perspective, Nguyễn Thượng Tường Minh, CEO of tech solutions provider Base said that a significant number of companies are “overwhelmed” by complex technology that leads to incoherent and fragmented workflows that span various platforms.

This is why managers could not fully take advantage of the resources and identify the key issues in the overall picture to make decisions based on data, he said.

According to Đỗ Thị Thu Hà, senior partner at KPMG Việt Nam and Cambodia, a majority of businesses have turned a profit from investing in data management and analysis.

However, challenges remain in addressing scattered blocks of data that are not fully integrated into their systems, she said.

KPMG also recently published a global tech report, which was conducted with 2,100 businesses that have a minimum annual revenue of US$100 million from digital transformation.

The document revealed that most companies understand the advantages that digital transformation brings to their business, as well as customer experience and employee satisfaction.

Approximately 66 per cent of the companies surveyed have made efforts in digital transformation and data analysis to improve profits and productivity in the past 12 months.

On average, around 15 per cent of these businesses can regularly generate profits from monitored indications in data management.

Hà Thanh Tùng, chairman of data analysis firm Metric said that a survey showed 60 per cent of companies well conduct their market research through data will see higher profits than those that do not.

Around 54 per cent of businesses also agreed that data analysis directly impacts revenues, he said.

“A business that knows how to leverage big data has a 25 per cent chance of doubling its profits,” he added.

Base CEO Nguyễn Thượng Tường Minh said that good data utilisation will boost organisational management.

In fact, many businesses have been investing in internal data systems, which allow for faster decision-making processes and improvement in results.

Speaking from his experience assisting digital transformation in enterprises, deputy CEO of Viettel Solutions Đoàn Đại Phong said that firms that know how to analyse and leverage data will have more chance of success and growth compared to those that follow the conventional, more traditional paths.

Therefore, each business must have a data-based development strategy to better understand its customers and optimise the production process.