HCM has made significant strides in digitizing fundamental administrative procedures, offering online services such as passport issuance and renewal, driver's license renewal, tax filing, and business registration. These digital services streamline processes and reduce costs for both citizens and businesses. Concurrently, local enterprises have been presented with numerous opportunities to adopt technologies that enhance their production and operations.
Head Phi Anh Tuan of the Enterprise Digital Transformation Unit under the HCMC Digital Transformation Support and Consulting Center (DXCenter), a common concern among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is selecting the most suitable platform for this critical task. Businesses often seek solutions that are highly integrable, practical, and adaptable to various scales.
Aware of that, the HCMC People’s Committee has released a support plan to help SMEs in the city until 2025 so that these companies can optimize their operations, increase their manufacturing or trading performance.
The committee has tasked departments and district-level People's Committees with assisting businesses in registering for accounts on the program's portal at http://smedx.vn. Furthermore, these entities are encouraged to promote the program among SMEs, cooperatives, and individual businesses, facilitating access to information and raising awareness about digital transformation.
The HCMC People’s Committee has also set an ambitious target. By 2025, 100 percent of SMEs operating within the city will have had access to information on digital transformation, enabling them to trial digital platforms. Consequently, the city aims to increase the proportion of SMEs utilizing digital platforms to at least 60 percent.
Digital transformation not only enhances business performance and product and service quality but also creates opportunities to reach potential customers and expand markets.
Director of DXCenter Phan Phuong Tung
To foster citizen participation in digital transformation, the city has prioritized the upskilling of community digital technology teams. HCMC has established 2,620 community digital technology teams comprising 11,059 members who are responsible for disseminating information, raising awareness, and assisting residents with digital transformation initiatives at the local level. These teams have so far organized various propaganda activities to raise the public’s awareness about online public services and VNeID app.
According to the HCMC Department of Information and Communications, the city is committed to ensuring that all information technology applications prioritize user convenience and cater to the needs and benefits of citizens. Hence, community digital technology teams play a pivotal role in the city's digital transformation, fostering a digitally literate population through outreach, awareness-raising, and guidance.
In line with the 2024 theme of “Resolutely and effectively implementing digital transformation and the NA’s Resolution No. 98/2023/QH15”, HCMC has achieved notable results. All state agencies within the city have adopted electronic mail, online teleconferencing, and electronic document management systems. The city has also launched a centralized administrative procedure processing information system and a city public service portal, restructuring administrative procedures on the digital platform. The city can now offer 740 online public services, 460 of which are end-to-end and 280 are partial.
“A key priority for the city in the 2024-2025 period is to deploy common digital platforms, establish data according to the data governance strategy, and enhance data integration and sharing. Additionally, we will supplement digital infrastructure to meet the demands of the development for a smart city app and digital transformation in the 2026-2030 period,” shared Director Vo Thi Trung Trinh of the HCMC Digital Transformation Center.
The city's data governance strategy (with four primary orientations of digitizing the city's administration and governance, digitizing industries, developing high-quality digital solutions and services, and effectively utilizing data) is designed to harness the potential of data to better serve government operations, deliver more efficient and user-friendly services to citizens, boost productivity and innovation, and foster comprehensive and sustainable digital economic growth.
Based on these orientations, the city has identified implementation solutions, including institutional perfection, infrastructure development, human resource development, and resource mobilization.
HCMC recognizes “digital data” as a fundamental and crucial foundation for comprehensive digital transformation, enabling the development of a data-driven economy where data is considered a valuable resource and asset. This perspective was affirmed by Deputy Chairwoman Tran Thi Dieu Thuy of the HCMC People's Committee at a recent workshop on “Vision and Leadership Actions in Data Governance and Digital Transformation in HCMC”.
