Quang Ninh facing up to digital reality

Quang Ninh province is ahead of the curve in exploiting digital opportunities and deploying strong application of IT.

The province has built up a master plan and issued a resolution on comprehensive digital transformation of the province for the 2021-2025 period, with a vision to 2030, which has been implemented and built to cover a digital government, economy, and society.

One particular goal set is that by 2025, the digital economy must reach 20 per cent of regional GDP and by 2030, it must reach 30 per cent.

In recent times, Quang Ninh signed an MoU with FPT, Viettel, and VNPT to implement digital transformation towards 2025, with a vision to 2030. Accordingly, the two sides will strengthen cooperation to promote digital transformation in socioeconomic activities of the province; develop digital platforms and digital applications on new technologies; encourage businesses to invest in building IT infrastructure; and promote the capabilities, strengths, and resources of both sides associated with comprehensive digital transformation.

With proactive, drastic, and creative solutions deployed from the local authorities to the community and individuals, the digital transformation campaign in Quang Ninh has achieved impressive success.

In the 2022 digital transformation rankings, in the group of central cities and provinces, Quang Ninh has risen to third place, up four places compared to 2021. It ranks only behind Danang and Ho Chi Minh City.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh identified 2023 as the year of national digital data and highlighted nine key criteria. So far, Quang Ninh has achieved six out of the nine criteria.

“The remaining aspects are a top focus for implementation and are expected to be completed in November this year,” said Nguyen Trung Tien, deputy director of Quang Ninh Department of Information and Communications.

Additionally, Quang Ninh sets a target to narrow geographical distance and equality in service access. The province is one of the top localities in sending and receiving electronic documents using four-level digital signatures, and is the first locality to integrate the province’s public service portal into the national one.

The construction and operation of an e-government has also created a modern administration, with related procedures handled by electronic processes and records, and online public services up to level 4.

Thanks to that, provincial leaders can grasp the process and progress of handling administrative procedures for people and businesses at the commune level and above, and even the names of civil servants assigned to handle those procedures. At the same time, all information and documents of governments at all levels posted on the portal from provincial to commune and ward levels are public and transparent.

“Clearly, digital transformation in all fields has had a positive impact on people and businesses,” Tien said.

Specifically, Tien Yen, a mountainous district, is gradually narrowing the regional gap, bringing many conveniences to people thanks to digital transformation.

Tien Yen’s district leader said, “To date, all 129 established enterprises and individual business households have registered and used electronic invoices. The district has universalised digital signatures to all businesses and individual business households in the area. All One Commune, One Product items, as well as key agricultural products, in the district have been traced on the system, introduced, promoted, and transacted e-commerce through online application and e-commerce trading platform postmart.vn.”

The application of record digitalisation targets in the health sector has also helped people access health services more easily.

Dr. Tran Anh Cuong, director of Vietnam-Sweden Hospital, said, “Our hospital is welcoming patients with health insurance using ID cards with chips or via various other ID applications. Since we applied this, it has brought many benefits to people, saving time on registration procedures and also not affecting treatment if a patient’s health insurance card is lost or damaged.”