Vice Chairman of the Hà Nội People's Committee Trương Việt Dũng and delegates visit the exhibition and technology demonstration area at the Hanoi Technology Exchange. — Photo hanoimoi.vn

HÀ NỘI — After 18 months of implementing the Politburo's Resolution No 57-NQ/TW, Hà Nội is emerging as a model for digital governance, with several of its initiatives recommended for wider adoption across Việt Nam.

Adopted in late 2024, Resolution 57 identifies science and technology, innovation and digital transformation as strategic drivers of the country's next phase of development. It calls for reforms in institutions, governance and digital infrastructure while promoting innovation as a new engine of economic growth.

Rather than treating the resolution as a technology agenda alone, Hà Nội has integrated its implementation across the entire political system.

Tasks are assigned to specific agencies with defined deadlines, measurable outputs and regular progress reviews, allowing city leaders to monitor implementation in real time instead of relying primarily on periodic reports.

The approach has also shaped the city's digital transformation strategy. Instead of developing standalone systems, Hà Nội has focused on building an integrated digital ecosystem that connects public services, shared databases and administrative platforms to support decision-making and day-to-day government operations.

One of the city's flagship initiatives is HanoiWork, a digital workspace that combines task management with a performance evaluation system based on objectives and key results (OKR/KPI).

The platform has been deployed across 153 agencies with around 37,500 user accounts, providing real-time dashboards, progress monitoring and AI-assisted reporting.

According to central authorities, it is the first local government platform capable of measuring officials' performance through real-time data rather than working hours alone.

Digital transformation has also improved the delivery of public services.

Following the restructuring of the city's public administrative service centres, the number of service locations fell from 158 to 131 while staffing levels were reduced by more than 74 per cent. At the same time, document processing productivity more than tripled.

More than 96 per cent of administrative records have been digitised, nearly 95 per cent of payments are now made online and public satisfaction has reached almost 97 per cent.

Hà Nội also ranks first nationwide in the digitisation of administrative records.

The city's digital health programme has generated electronic health records for more than 8.4 million residents, equivalent to about 97.4 per cent of the population, with over eight million records already linked to the National Population Database.

More than 27.5 million medical records have also been integrated into the system, supporting continuous health management. Meanwhile, nearly 96 per cent of applications for judicial record certificates are now submitted online, most of them through the VNeID application. 

Supporting these services is a growing digital infrastructure.

Hà Nội has built a Tier III-certified data centre and expanded its local government service platform (LGSP), which has connected 13 key agencies and processed nearly 137 million data transactions since becoming operational, laying the groundwork for wider data sharing across government.

Beyond digital government, the city is also strengthening its innovation ecosystem.

Initiatives such as the Hà Nội Technology Exchange, HiHUB Innovation Centre and programmes connecting businesses with researchers aim to bring scientific research closer to commercial application.

A self-driving mini bus developed by Phenikaa-X undergoes a controlled pilot test at Ecopark. — Photo hanoimoi.vn

Moreover, the revised Capital Law, which took effect on July 1, is expected to provide additional legal mechanisms to support science, technology, innovation, digital transformation and high-quality human resources.

Central authorities said several of Hà Nội's initiatives, including HanoiWork, the iHanoi citizen platform and shared data systems, could be replicated in other localities. They also highlighted the city's use of the revised Capital Law to introduce policies supporting innovation, regulatory sandboxes and talent attraction.

The review also highlighted governance principles applied by the city, including the 'Once-Only' approach, under which citizens provide information only once, and the 'one-stop, one application' model designed to ensure requests are directed to the appropriate authority.

The assessment also identified challenges that extend beyond Hà Nội, including outdated investment regulations for digital projects, limited data sharing between national databases and local governments and legal barriers affecting fully online public services.

Addressing these issues will be essential to ensuring the effective implementation of Resolution 57 across the country. — VNS