Hung Yen builds digital foundations to drive long-term growth

Hung Yen builds digital foundations to drive long-term growth

From strengthening data infrastructure to developing AI platforms, Hung Yen province is enhancing governance capacity while laying the groundwork for the growth of its digital economy.

Hung Yen, about 50-60km southeast of Hanoi, has maintained steady momentum in implementing its digital transformation agenda, creating a stronger foundation for the province to advance science, technology, and innovation.

At a conference on July 15 reviewing progress in 2026, Hung Yen Steering Committee for Science and Technology Development, Innovation, and Digital Transformation reported that 169 of the 272 assigned tasks had been completed, with no overdue assignments. Nearly half of the objectives under the province's annual digital transformation plan have also been achieved.

The progress is reflected in improving digital government indicators. During the first six months of the year, Hung Yen processed more than 659,000 administrative applications, of which over 94 per cent were submitted online and 98.3 per cent were resolved on schedule.

Hung Yen Public Administration Service Centre

Administrative records continue to be digitalised, while all public administrative procedures are now available regardless of geographical boundaries, making public services more accessible to citizens and businesses.

Official documents exchanged among government agencies are now handled almost entirely through electronic systems with full digital signatures.

The province has supported these improvements through sustained investment in digital infrastructure. Fibre-optic broadband and 4G-5G mobile coverage now extend to every commune and ward, while the Digital Literacy for All initiative continues to improve digital skills and encourage wider technology adoption across government agencies, businesses and local communities.

Despite this progress, provincial leaders acknowledge that digital transformation is moving into a more challenging phase. With the basic infrastructure largely in place, the focus is shifting towards deeper institutional reform and more effective use of digital resources.

Fragmented databases, limited interoperability, and shortages of specialised digital personnel remain key constraints, while the digital economy has yet to fully realise its potential.

Addressing the conference, Pham Quang Ngoc, Secretary of Hung Yen Party Committee and head of the Steering Committee, stressed that digital transformation should be viewed as more than a technology programme.

“Instead, it should reshape the way government operates, delivering tangible benefits for citizens and businesses while improving governance and creating new momentum for sustainable economic development,” he said.

That strategic shift is reflected in Hung Yen's digital transformation plan for 2026-2030. Rather than focusing primarily on digitising administrative procedures, the new roadmap positions data infrastructure, shared digital platforms and AI as the foundation of the province's next stage of development.

Hung Yen is leveraging data and digital technologies as the foundation for building a digital government

Driving digital growth

Data will form the backbone of Hung Yen's digital transformation strategy over the coming years. The province plans to continue developing sectoral databases under the principles of being accurate, complete, clean, continuously updated, interconnected, and shared.

At the same time, it will establish shared big data analytics and AI platforms to support policy formulation, public administration and government decision-making.

A key component of the strategy is the upgrade of Hung Yen's Integrated Data Centre to Tier III international standards. The project is expected to significantly strengthen the province's capacity to store, process and share data while providing the resilient digital infrastructure needed for AI deployment and future digital services.

With redundant power, cooling, and technical systems, the upgraded facility will allow maintenance without disrupting operations, an increasingly important requirement as public services become more digital.

For Hung Yen, AI is viewed as a practical tool for improving government performance. Under the roadmap, every essential online public service will incorporate AI in at least one stage of service delivery, ranging from document processing and citizen support to automated decision-making.

Between 2028 and 2030, half of these services are expected to become increasingly personalised, enabling AI to recommend or remind citizens and businesses of administrative procedures relevant to their individual needs.

AI adoption will also become standard practice across the public sector. The province aims for all public officials and civil servants to use AI assistants or other intelligent digital tools in their daily work, while every government agency is expected to deploy at least one AI-based solution to enhance administration, management and decision-making.

Complementing these initiatives, Hung Yen plans to establish an intelligent operations centre integrating AI, the Internet of Things, 5G connectivity, and real-time data analytics. The centre is expected to strengthen forecasting capabilities and provide early warnings on socioeconomic developments, enabling authorities to make faster and better-informed policy decisions.

The province's ambitions extend well beyond public administration. Hung Yen expects digital transformation to become a new engine of economic growth by accelerating digital adoption across manufacturing, logistics, e-commerce, smart agriculture, healthcare, education, tourism, and urban management.

By 2030, the province targets the digital economy to contribute at least 30 per cent of regional GDP, while digital activities are expected to account for no less than 20 per cent of output in every major sector. Labour productivity is projected to increase by an average of 10 per cent annually, supported by broader adoption of digital platforms among small and medium-sized enterprises and wider use of electronic contracts.

Alongside economic development, Hung Yen is also pursuing an inclusive digital society. By the end of the decade, the province aims to achieve near-universal smartphone ownership, electronic health records, basic digital literacy, and household internet connectivity, complemented by province-wide 5G coverage and wider adoption of cashless payments through the continued expansion of its Digital Literacy for All programme.

Recognising that digital transformation must be underpinned by robust cybersecurity, the province is strengthening the security of government information systems through security classification, a four-layer protection model, regular risk assessments and upgrades to its Security Operations Centre.

In the longer term, Hung Yen plans to establish a provincial cybersecurity centre connected to the National Cybersecurity Centre.

VIR