Quang Tri prioritizes digitalization key in advancing smart city development

To gradually develop a smart city, Dong Ha City has been implementing the Smart City Development Plan for the 2021-2025 period, with a vision towards 2030. The plan emphasizes the development of a smart city integrated with comprehensive and synchronized digital transformation across various sectors.

Accordingly, the Dong Ha City People’s Committee has allocated resources to invest in 10 component projects under the plan. To date, seven key items have been completed as per the approved plan, including: establishing a security and information safety system; implementing a social media citizen feedback solution; developing infrastructure for the smart city; creating an online smart city application for smart devices; setting up an automatic water level monitoring system for flood monitoring and warning in communities; developing smart lighting management and control software; and surveying and deploying smart agriculture models in the third quarter of 2024.

Dong Ha City from above. Photo: Khanh Toan

In 2024, the Dong Ha City People’s Committee directed relevant agencies and units to mobilize resources for implementing additional component projects connected to the Dong Ha Smart City Operations Center (IOC). These projects include urban planning and infrastructure management, construction permit management, monitoring and penalizing violations in construction inspection, smart lighting management software, smart traffic signal management, smart agriculture, and smart tourism and commerce.

Regarding the development of a smart city linked with digital transformation, the establishment of a digital government is underway. Currently, all internal documents of the agencies, units, and ward People’s Committees (except for classified documents and certain mandatory records) in Dong Ha City are processed electronically via the document management and operation system.

The implementation of a public email system (***@quangtri.gov.vn) has been fully established for officials and civil servants of specialized agencies, public units, and ward People's Committees. This system serves both as an email tool and for logging into the staff information and document management systems via the provincial e-portal, accessible at https://vpdt.quangtri.gov.vn/.

The use of specialized digital signatures for the management of agencies, units, and ward People’s Committees has been rolled out, with guidance provided for mobile signing using KPI SIM cards for related agencies.

Additionally, full guidance for issuing digital signatures has been provided to officials in the one-stop shop of the city and ward People’s Committees to facilitate the digitization of public service records online. Comprehensive information on the e-portal of the city and wards is available, covering administrative procedures, policies, development plans, investment projects, bidding processes, and grievance resolutions.

Currently, 100% of citizen, business, and organizational records and procedures are received and processed through the "electronic one-stop shop." Based on the province’s online public service system, the Dong Ha City People’s Committee is standardizing administrative procedures and processes to ensure high-quality online public services at the city and ward levels.

In terms of digital economy development, the Dong Ha City People’s Committee has connected and supported local businesses in e-commerce, such as assisting with participation in domestic e-commerce platforms, registering for website construction and upgrades, and providing traceability solutions.

The People’s Committee has also directed local agencies and ward People’s Committees to coordinate with telecommunications companies to implement guidance and install cashless payment applications for fees and business transactions within the community.

Efforts are focused on organizing e-commerce promotion programs and connecting e-commerce businesses with producers across sectors to create new supply chains. The committee has instructed the ward-level People's Committees to implement digital platforms to facilitate agricultural production participation in e-commerce, such as https://quangtrimart.vn and https://postmart.vn/. Services for tax declaration, payment, refund, and tax obligation confirmation are now fully operational online.

In social development, Dong Ha City has instructed community digital technology teams to actively promote the benefits and effectiveness of digital transformation within the community. There is also collaboration on the project to "Develop applications for citizen data, identification, and electronic verification to support national digital transformation from 2022-2025, with a vision to 2030."

Dong Ha City has actively established community digital technology teams. So far, all 9 wards and 62 neighborhoods have formed community teams, consisting of 49 members at the ward level and 511 members at the neighborhood level. Emphasis is placed on training and guiding digital technology application skills for these community teams and local residents.

The Dong Ha City Department of Culture and Information has coordinated with relevant units and telecommunications companies to guide the implementation of tasks for community digital technology teams. Efforts are being made to enhance knowledge and skills in using digital technology applications for community team members, contributing effectively to the digital transformation and smart city development in Dong Ha City.

In the coming time, Dong Ha City will continue to strengthen digital transformation efforts, raising awareness among officials and party members about the importance of digital transformation for socio-economic development and gradually building a smart city. The effectiveness of component projects under the Smart City Development Plan for 2021-2025, with a vision to 2030, will be continuously improved.

Local agencies and units in Dong Ha City recognize the task of building a smart city and digital transformation as a crucial responsibility, focusing on specific plans for implementation. The goal set by Dong Ha City is to enhance the effectiveness of infrastructure projects for smart city development by 2025 and upgrade necessary service components to ensure the operation of the Dong Ha IOC.

Efforts will include building a database for urban planning, land use, and technical infrastructure to establish a management system for efficient governance. Investments will be made in application services for government leadership, creating dashboards for visual information display, and developing socio-economic reporting systems. There will also be initiatives for digitizing historical and cultural relics and launching smart tourism and commerce projects.

From 2026-2030, Dong Ha City will implement additional necessary components to transform into a model smart city for the province.

Since 2022, the People’s Committee of Dong Ha City has allocated resources to invest in seven component projects under the Smart City Development Plan for the 2021-2025 period, aimed at 2030, with a total investment of over 18 billion VND. The projects include: developing a security and information safety system; implementing solutions for monitoring citizen feedback on social media; establishing infrastructure and equipment for smart city development; and creating an online smart city application for smart devices.

Additional projects involve building software for managing and controlling smart lighting; establishing an automatic water level monitoring system to oversee and warn the community of flooding; and piloting a smart agriculture model.

Currently, these projects have been largely completed and are already yielding positive results. For instance, the automatic water level monitoring system, integrated into the IOC Dong Ha application, enables city leaders, specialized agencies, and residents to easily track real-time flood developments and prepare timely responses.

Furthermore, this system has been connected with the national hydrometric stations on the Hieu and Thach Han rivers, along with the city’s flood mapping, which enhances the government’s management and response capabilities during flood events.

In parallel, Dong Ha is focused on upgrading and enhancing its information technology infrastructure. By the end of 2022, Viettel Quang Tri officially launched 5G services in several areas of Dong Ha’s center. Currently, the city has full coverage of 3G and 4G networks, with fiber optic internet reaching 99% of populated areas, leaving no “dead zones” for mobile signals.

“Building a digital government is a breakthrough solution for administrative reform, enhancing the capacity, efficiency, and transparency of government operations at all levels. Therefore, Dong Ha is implementing digital transformation across three pillars: digital government, digital economy, and digital society. In developing a smart city, the city prioritizes increasing interaction between the government, citizens, and businesses to facilitate quicker and more efficient administrative procedures while improving the effectiveness of state management in areas such as public safety, environment, urban planning, construction order, and disaster response. Despite facing challenges, the benefits of establishing a digital government and a smart city for residents, businesses, and the government are clear and practical. Dong Ha will continue to accelerate these important tasks,” stated Nguyen Sy Trong, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Dong Ha City.

Tien Sy - Ngoc Mai