A drone is used to spray pesticides to care for the winter-spring rice crop in the Mekong Delta City of Cần Thơ.—VNA/VNS Photo Duy Khương

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is placing digital transformation and sector-wide data development at the heart of its long-term strategy, aligning its work with Politburo Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation, alongside related resolutions of the National Assembly and the Government.

To that end, the ministry is stepping up investment in digital infrastructure, shared platforms and integrated databases for agriculture and the environment, with an emphasis on centralisation, standardisation and security.

A central objective is to strengthen data connectivity and interoperability both within the sector and with the National Data Centre.

Management, direction and policy implementation are gradually shifting towards a data-driven model, aimed at improving the effectiveness of State management, enhancing the quality of public services and better serving citizens and businesses.

Crucially, the ministry has stressed that building databases is not simply about having data but about ensuring data quality and usability.

“Without data, there can be no management or governance,” said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Võ Văn Hưng.

"Digital transformation is an inevitable task if the sector is to improve administrative effectiveness, serve the public and develop smart agriculture.

“Data must be the foundation, and outcomes the ultimate measure,” said Hưng, adding that the sector was focusing on three main tasks.

The first is to transform management methods from experience-based and manual practices to digital, data-driven management.

The second is to complete shared sectoral databases that meet the criteria of being accurate, sufficient, clean and live, capable of reflecting realities in a timely manner.

The third is to gradually move from manual operations to automation, applying digital technologies to monitoring, forecasting and decision-making.

According to experts, when data is treated as a strategic resource and effectively exploited, the agriculture and environment sector can not only strengthen its governance capacity but also unlock new drivers of sustainable growth.

From agricultural market forecasting and land and water resource management to pollution control, disaster prevention and climate change adaptation, operations are expected to become increasingly accurate, timely and transparent.

This will provide a critical foundation for building a modern, smart and efficient agricultural sector suited to a new stage of development.

Under its digital transformation strategy, the sector aims to complete modern, green and shared data centres by 2030.

On that basis, the ministry plans to develop common digital platforms and applications from central to local levels, supporting comprehensive State management while meeting the growing demands of citizens and businesses.

By 2030, the target is for 100 per cent of national and specialised databases in agriculture and the environment to be established, standardised and cleaned, forming a unified data ecosystem centrally managed and synchronised through the ministry’s data centres.

Key databases must fully meet the criteria of being accurate, sufficient, clean, live, unified and shared, creating a solid foundation for data-driven governance and decision-making.

According to the ministry’s Department of Digital Transformation, the sector currently operates 115 national and specialised databases, including 10 serving leadership and operational management, three directly serving citizens and businesses and 102 specialised databases in agriculture and the environment.

One national database has already been established, the National Land Database, while a National Climate Change Database is being proposed.

Several other datasets, though not formally designated as national, cover nationwide scopes, such as those on water resources, geospatial data, the environment, meteorology and hydrology, plant varieties, fisheries, dyke management and poverty reduction.

In practice, database development has already delivered important initial results.

The sector has completed both the National Land Database and the National Fisheries Database, while also rolling out technical conditions to connect and synchronise data with the National Population Database and the National Data Centre.

A basic framework of technical regulations for national and specialised databases has also been issued, providing standardised guidelines for building, refining and sharing data with ministries, agencies and local authorities nationwide. — VNS