Officers from Hà Nội's Traffic Police Department help a senior citizen in Mê Linh Commune update his vehicle registration and driving licence data on the iHanoi mobile application. — VNA/VNS Photo Phạm Kiên

HÀ NỘI — The capital city has taken the lead in actualising the Politburo’s ambitions to create economic breakthroughs in science, technology and innovation, without depending on instructions from the central Government.

After the Politburo’s Resolution 57 was issued in late 2024, Hà Nội translated it into specific policies, operational models and actions to accelerate its own digital transformation process, learning from the experience and requesting support only where needed.

This initiative has helped distinguish the tasks that the city can complete on its own and those that require further assistance from the central Government, setting an example for other cities and provinces to carry out the resolution at the local level.

From policies to real services

One highlight is how the city has made the most of the special mechanisms it’s entitled to under the Law on the Capital, building a comprehensive policy framework to serve the development of an innovation ecosystem.

About 3 per cent of the State’s budget this year is allocated to cities and provinces for their technological development and digital transformation; but Hà Nội decided to spend more than the amount it was given on such activities.

It also established a technology exchange, a venture capital fund and a science, technology and innovation development fund, as well as mechanisms for ordering digital products from businesses and for technology control testing.

These instruments help to create a legal framework for the city’s innovation activities and ensure its financial resources, and are expected to attract high-quality workers to the city.

Aside from developing policies, Hà Nội also built digital products that serve the people, and supports models that help them get better at using the products.

In particular, iHanoi is a one-stop shop mobile application for Hà Nội citizens, where they can report incidents, give feedback on administrative procedures, pay fees and search for information in essential areas such as transport, healthcare, education and city planning.

For public offices, the HanoiWork system is used to manage workload and service quality. Public servants’ performance is measured with real-time data through an electronic dashboard, shifting evaluation method from time-based to performance-based with frameworks such as objectives and key results and key performance indicators.

Meanwhile a shared data warehouse, also known as a data lakehouse, is being built, which will combine data from State departments, agencies, communes and wards with one single access control and monitoring mechanism, helping to ensure the consistency of population data.

Health records for all citizens are being integrated with the iHanoi and VNeID mobile apps, enabling doctors to access people's medical history more easily and creating a health data repository for management purposes.

As part of the Ministry of Public Security’s Digital Literacy for All movement, community digital transformation support teams have been formed in each commune and neighbourhood. Made up of three to five citizens with good digital skills, the teams will provide hands-on support to their neighbours, especially those with disadvantages, in accessing digital services.

Members of Phúc Lợi Ward's digital transformation support team help two senior citizens authenticate their digital signatures to receive pensions at their home. — VNA/VNS Photo Phan Phương

From experience to principles

From these practical experiences, the city has identified three important principles for digital public services to run smoothly, down to the commune level.

The first principle is ‘once-only’, applicable to services for which form filling is required. Citizens only provide information once, and State agencies extract existing related data from national databases, saving them from having to fill out repetitive or unnecessary information fields.

Another is ‘one-stop shop, one application, no wrong door’, in which all public service applications from citizens will be received, handled and returned by just one communal administrative department.

Finally, the third is to use AI in document processing, which reduces the time commune-level public servants spend processing paperwork by 60-70 per cent, giving them more time to serve the people.

A list of criteria is also being developed to help other cities and provinces self-assess their readiness level for digital transformation, including in budget allocation, policy improvement, digital infrastructure development, establishing funds and measuring the effectiveness of online public service delivery.

Central support required

Apart from what was done well, Hà Nội has also recognised difficulties beyond its jurisdiction and requested support from central authorities.

The city has asked the Ministry of Finance to provide clear guidance on how to differentiate investment and recurring expenses for tasks related to information technology (IT) and how to determine the rental price of IT services. It has also asked for the ministry’s permission to use recurring expenses to purchase terminal equipment for communes.

One major budgeting and disbursement challenge currently facing Hà Nội is that the legal system mainly applies to traditional scientific and technology products, so it’s not suitable for new digital products that require continuous updating and whose output is difficult to quantify.

To solve this problem, the city has asked the Ministry of Science and Technology for issuance of quotas, unit prices and acceptance mechanisms for new digital products and services, including those involving AI and data.

A public servant helps a citizen make digital copies of her ID card on an AI-integrated kiosk at the public administrative service centre in Gia Lâm Commune. — VNA/VNS Photo Phan Phương

The city also asked the Ministry of Public Security to continue sharing access to other national databases, and to integrate digital signatures for citizens through the VNeID app for free to reduce barriers to using digital services.

As for the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, Hà Nội proposed the integration of land data into commune-level databases, and the issuance of standards for digitising land records. The Ministry of Justice was asked to amend regulations to allow for the authentication of electronic copies of land ownership certificates.

In terms of investment regulations, the city has proposed to the National Assembly and Government that the Law on Public Investment be amended, as it is no longer suitable for the rapidly changing nature of technology.

The current law requires IT investment to involve project planning, bidding and final settlement, similar to construction investment. Amendments should be made to allow the costs to hire IT services to be classified as recurring expenses, and to increase the spending limit for contractor appointments.

For better evaluation of the digital transformation process, the Central Steering Committee on Science, Technology, Innovation and Digital Transformation should issue a framework to differentiate ‘task completion’ from ‘creating real products and value’.

It should also come up with standardised methods for measuring the actual number of full-process public services completed and the actual disbursement rate for IT-related projects.

Hà Nội authorities have also asked the Government to consider giving other cities and localities a preferential policy framework similar to the Law on the Capital, and prioritise the removal of policy bottlenecks so that the city’s digital transformation experiences can be replicated nationwide. — VNS