According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, despite significant achievements in digital transformation, major challenges remain. Progress in developing data resources in certain sectors, ministries and agencies has been slow, while digital platforms have developed unevenly and lack consistency across ministries and sectors. Infrastructure supporting research and digital transformation remains limited, AI adoption among businesses has fallen short of expectations, and there is a shortage of personnel responsible for digital transformation in ministries, sectors and localities, particularly at the commune level.
To address these shortcomings, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Duc Long said that the ministry would focus on fully resolving practical challenges faced by localities, citizens and businesses through new approaches in 2027.
"We need to identify very specific challenges and address the practical problems faced by citizens and businesses. When we successfully resolve these problems, digital transformation can be considered successful and effective," the Deputy Minister emphasised.
He also pointed out that many intelligent operation centres (IOCs) have been established in localities but remain underused by local leaders because they have yet to address the practical needs of local authorities, residents and businesses.
Accordingly, in 2027, the Ministry of Science and Technology will focus on several key tasks to ensure that digital transformation delivers tangible results.
First, the ministry will work alongside ministries, sectors, localities and businesses to implement the National Digital Architecture Framework. It will issue a model architecture framework for localities to consult and adopt, helping them overcome the uncertainties currently encountered during implementation.
Second, the ministry will review the results and lessons learned from smart city development in localities in recent years. It will identify problems that have been effectively addressed through digital transformation and develop model use cases, together with corresponding applications and application suites. Localities will then be able to select and deploy solutions suited to their specific needs.
Third, the ministry will work with selected localities to successfully implement digital transformation models at the commune level. It is currently surveying local challenges to determine which can be addressed through centrally provided shared platforms and which require provincial-level solutions. Based on these findings, the ministry will support a selected locality in comprehensively resolving its challenges before replicating the successful model elsewhere.
Regarding the digital economy, the ministry will identify and publicise applications that have demonstrably generated double-digit growth for household businesses, thereby encouraging wider adoption.
On training personnel responsible for digital transformation at the commune level, Deputy Minister Pham Duc Long said the ministry had tasked the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology, in coordination with relevant units, with surveying the duties performed by commune-level digital transformation officers and identifying the skills they need.
Training will subsequently adopt a hands-on and step-by-step approach to equip officials with practical skills and enable them to effectively support digital transformation at the commune level. The ministry plans to pilot the programme in approximately 20 communes before expanding it following successful implementation.
Deputy Minister Pham Duc Long also said the ministry hoped to work closely with ministries, sectors and localities to improve the effectiveness of community digital technology teams. It will review successful models and assess the technological needs and capabilities required of these teams. Based on the findings, it will provide training through online courses, videos and short lessons, building a core workforce capable of supporting digital transformation at the local level.
