Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Phan Ngoc Tho
Developing smart city based on electronic government
What are the motives for the project "Developing smart urban services"?
The idea to this project was formed more than 2 years ago with much support from Korea and big corporations of Vietnam such as Viettel and VNPT. Our research and pilot tests confirmed that smart solutions were the optimal form of urban management and service provision as the Industry 4.0 was gaining popularity in the world. Vietnam and Thua Thien Hue, thus, should be no exception.
Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Phan Ngoc Tho presided at the meeting with departments and local authorities on smart urban services
As both urban and rural areas are taken into consideration, building only a certain number of smart urban services, instead of an entire smart city, proves to be suitable for the natural, economic and social characteristics of the province. Only a certain number of smart services are selectively operated based on the major strengths of the province. Establishing e-government has undergone long process, from the initial widespread development primarily in the field of Information Technology to later in-depth growth of system integration. Therefore, a smart foundation is a clear and attainable objective.
What are the principles for building this project?
The development of smart urban services is the "active, preparation and transition" from the foundation of e-government, based on the motto “People-centered, Business-driven, State-founded" where we embrace the principles of local suitability. E-government is the basis of technological independence and the socialization process of public service supply. Smart urban services employ the information technology advancements to steer the community towards the goal of improving the quality of life. Therefore, all related contents must be carefully examined in detail and solutions suggested to limit the drawbacks of traditional services in accordance with the population’s satisfaction.
The province’s objectives of building smart city include economic development and sustainable urbanization. Photo credit: Van Dinh Huy
Improving managerial efficiency
How should we fully define smart city? Upon the project’s implementation, how is the efficiency of urban management expected to improve?
To put it simply, smart city applies IT solutions based on the connectivity and sharing of the Internet. More specifically, technological advancements such as Big data, the Internet of things (IoT), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will soon be incorporated into state management activities, providing and managing comprehensive services for the society.
The anticipated outcome of implementing this project can be impressive. People have these public services at hand with greater modernity, usability, and efficiency. Smart services will pave the way for active and interactive procedures. Businesses would experience a new environment where open and fair participation in public matters is encouraged. This environment is both a condition for expanding the market for enterprises and realizing limitations for improving the quality of services to higher professionalism and modernity. State agencies are also expected to operate in a stronger and more effective way as the smart system will effectively support and streamline the government’s management, contributing to reducing costs, managing staff and facilitating the decision-making process.
Boosting the interaction between the people and the government
When do you think local residents can feel the "shape and structure" of this smart city?
The blueprint of smart urban services aims at fully deploying the basic services so that people can approach and develop their habits of use. Citizens can register for online public services with the local administrative agencies. Some online payment services for administrative procedures, tax payment, and so on are also projected for this year.
One specific task at present is to complete the system of electronic cards for enterprises, citizens, and state workers – a tool for interacting with the information system of the province, storing individuals and organizations’ information using identification codes, developing cashless payment.
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Smart urban services will offer many benefits
In addition, people will be involved in state management activities through the applications reflecting the reality on-spot, which will be integrated into an informative channel of interaction between people, enterprises, and the state agencies to minimize the chaos and dispersion of control. Other projected plans include surveillance camera system for monitoring safety and urban order; management of construction activities, technical infrastructure, urban sanitation; detecting traffic offences as well as supporting weather forecast and warnings in the flood season.
Services and utilities for individual and household life will also be provided online in a convenient and user-friendly way to the vast majority of people. The use and evaluation of the people will help improve state management activities and service quality of enterprises.
Can you talk about the prioritized sectors where smart urban services are operated?
We assessed the locals’ readiness and current situations, especially in the areas which saw most civil involvement and demand. We then identified the top five prioritized sectors for the 2018-2020 period, namely health, education, tourism, transportation and environment.
Thank you very much!
By THAI BINH