Unleashing data resources

September 13, 2023 | 06:14 am GMT+7

In the digital age, data is a resource for the development of digital government, digital economy and digital society.

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The connection, integration and sharing of data between state agencies, especially from national databases and information systems of large scale and scope from the central to local levels, will help take advantage of the effectiveness of the data values; improve the quality of public services provided to people and businesses, following the people-centred orientation.

Currently, more than 80% of countries in the world have national data portals to provide open data. In 2022, Vietnam ranked 87th out of 187 countries in open data ranking, up 10 places compared to 2020. This shows that the sharing of national data into serving the connection and integration, and data sharing among ministries, branches, localities, organisations and enterprises, have initially achieved positive results.

There have been more than 90 ministries, branches, localities, organisations and enterprises connected to the national data exchange platform; there are 9 databases, and 14 connected information systems, providing data-sharing services on the national data exchange platform.

Sharing data contributes to saving society's time, improving the quality of public service delivery for people and businesses; improving the efficiency of management, direction, administration and performance of official duties based on complete, accurate and timely data; enhancing the efficiency of exploiting internal shared data, avoiding duplicate investment, causing waste.

The connection and sharing of data will help form and develop services and utilities oriented to be open for people, and firms; allowing the provision of open data to serve the private sector to build and develop new application and service ecosystems for society.

Decision No. 942/QD-TTg dated June 15, 2021, the Prime Minister approved the Strategy for the development of e-Government towards digital Government for 2021 - 2025, with orientations towards 2030, clearly defines the data as the new resource. State agencies provide open data for the development of digital government, digital economy and digital society.

According to Decree No. 47/2020/ND-CP, the Government also defines that open data of a state agency is data that is widely publicized by a competent state agency for agencies, organisations and individuals to freely use, reuse and share.

To support the connection and sharing of data between state agencies in a unified, optimal and convenient way for the management, operation, maintenance and security of network information, and connections on a national scale, the Ministry of Information and Communications also has guidelines for connecting and sharing data via the national data exchange platform.

Opening data properly and using open data effectively are the goals that need to be achieved by agencies, organisations and individuals, in creating, providing and exploiting data.

The opinion of many technology experts is that to promote the process of digital transformation, Vietnam needs to encourage the development of open platforms, open data, and sharing platforms, and at the same time, the country needs to create specific mechanisms and eliminate barriers for the digital transformation process.

Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Governmental agencies, and People's Committees of provinces and cities shall issue lists of shared databases and publicize information on data-sharing services according to their management scope.

In addition, management agencies, organizations and businesses work together to develop open data and improve artificial intelligence application capacity.

The Ministry of Information and Communications needs to develop a roadmap to set data standards, to ensure that the data from the central to local levels are classified and shared smoothly in a scientific way, as well as ensuring network safety and security. Data sharing must be done appropriately and each individual's privacy is protected following the law.

In addition to perfecting the regulatory environment, and building a portfolio of data resources across industries to promote the integration, development and use of interdisciplinary data, it is necessary to raise awareness of the value of data for units.

Connecting and opening the flow of data is one of the prerequisites to accelerating the digital transformation process and strengthening the connection between the Government, businesses and people. Thereby, it also creates values for people, businesses and society as a whole.

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