ĐÀ NẴNG — The central city and FPT, a Vietnamese software giant, officially inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on building Đà Nẵng as a ‘smart city’ in the 2018-20 period.

The MoU, which was signed yesterday, will help the city develop smart solutions in traffic, agriculture, English language training, health care and tourism.

The two sides also agreed to complete online service in traffic and agriculture to boost connection between the city’s administration and local residents, as well as to promote transparency in administrative procedure.

As planned, FPT will invest VNĐ15 billion (US$664,000) to build pilot projects with smart applications in 2018-19.

Vice Chairman of the city’s People’s Committee, Hồ Kỳ Minh, said the MoU would help Đà Nẵng improve administrative reform and transparency for local people, businesses and tourists, and build Đà Nẵng as a ‘liveable’ city in the near future.

He said the city’s e-Government system, which was launched in 2014, had been used by 225 agencies and 4,000 users. About 50 per cent of public procedures were also posted online.

He said Đà Nẵng’s IT infrastructure was now available for smart connections among air control, water, garbage, meteorology, and energy agencies. It could also provide earthquake and tsunami warnings, and data on flooding, erosion, sewage management, and bridges.

Đà Nẵng and FPT company ink a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on building Đà Nẵng as a ‘smart city’ in 2018-20. — VNS Photo Công Thành

The city will be ready for 4G LTE (Long-Term Evolution) this year.

Free wireless internet (wifi) services, with a maximum of 20,000 connections, was also offered for local residents and tourists at major centres and streets in the city, including living quarters, tourist sites, schools, beaches, hospitals,  and shopping malls, alongside bus and railway stations, airports and entertainment centres.

The central city had provided 1,196 online administration procedures, including one-stop shops, residential management, public transport and water supervision through the e-Government system.

FPT, who started investment in the city from 2004, has so far employed 2,000 IT engineers from Đà Nẵng to work for the company’s software export department.

In 2016, FPT debuted its IT Service Centre, the FPT Complex in Đà Nẵng. It is the biggest IT service centre in the central Việt Nam, providing office space for 10,000 IT engineers and 3,200 other employees.

Đà Nẵng plans to become a ‘smart city’ by 2020 and a ‘green city’ by 2025. — VNS