'Vietnam always considers digital data as a key component that needs to be focused on development'

Through more than 20 years of developing e-Government with many changes, digital data has always been a key component that has been focused on building and developing. In digital transformation and developing digital Government, the role of data is increasingly clear and important.

Approaches to data in the digital transformation era have changed

The seminar “Unlocking the potential of digital data - From vision to implementation” took place on the morning of October 7 in Hanoi. This activity is part of a series of events of the Vietnam Digital Awards 2023 voting and awarding program sponsored by the Ministry of Information and Communications, chaired by the Vietnam Digital Communications Association (VDCA).

With the participation of Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Thanh Lam , Chairman of VDCA Nguyen Minh Hong and Vice Chairman, General Secretary of Vietnam Radio and Electronics Association Doan Quang Hoan, the seminar is where experts share policies on data exploitation and practical experience in building a data ecosystem, ensuring data security of organizations and businesses.

Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Digital Communications Association Vu Kiem Van emphasized that contributing to the national digital transformation is identified by the Association as one of its key tasks. (Photo: Dang Khoa) Affirming that contributing to the nationaldigital transformation is a key task of the Vietnam Digital Communications Association, Mr. Vu Kiem Van, Vice President and General Secretary, stated: The seminar is designed to contribute to raising awareness and forming data thinking capacity for those who are implementing digital government and digital enterprises; finding solutions to problems and challenges that organizations and enterprises are facing, promoting the digital transformation process faster and more effectively.

Speaking at the seminar, Mr. Nguyen Trong Khanh, Head of the Department of Digital Infrastructure and Data, National Digital Transformation Agency, Ministry of Information and Communications, said that Vietnam has been developing e-Government since 2000. After 20 years, in 2020, Vietnam began to move to the digital transformation phase, marked by the issuance of the National Digital Transformation Program, clearly defining the three pillars of digital government, digital economy and digital society.

Representative of the National Digital Transformation Agency informs about Vietnam's digital data development process. (Photo: Dang Khoa)

Through 23 years of development with many changes, digital data has always been an important and essential component that has been focused on building and developing. In digital transformation, digital data is increasingly recognized for its clearer and more important role. This is demonstrated by the fact that Vietnam chose the 2023 digital transformation theme as the national digital data year, right after the year of the general offensive to strongly promote digital transformation in all sectors, at all levels, nationwide, for all people and comprehensively in digital transformation.

Reviewing the maturity levels of data from the early stages of e-Government to the present, Mr. Nguyen Trong Khanh said: “We have now moved from the stage of applying IT or computerization to the stage of digital transformation. Along with the rapid change of technology, many new digital technologies have emerged, the perception and approach to data in digital transformation have also changed to a certain extent.”

From the perspective of the agency directly assigned to perform the permanent tasks of the National Committee on Digital Transformation, the representative of the Digital Transformation Department pointed out 18 notable changes in thinking and approach to digital data when Vietnam shifted from the stage of applying IT and computerization to digital transformation.

Specifically, the changes in data when switching from IT application to digital transformation can be mentioned as: Switching from data as a means to data as raw materials, products, goods; switching from the role of data for storage and searching to data that changes the way of thinking, working, and creating value; shifting the focus from building data to exploiting data; switching from individual databases to data clouds...

The need to develop a national strategy on data

Discussing the policy for exploiting data value, Mr. Nguyen Quang Dong, Director of the Institute for Policy Research and Media Development, emphasized the need to develop a national strategy on data. Along with that, it is necessary to clearly define the model and role of building and exploiting data of ministries, branches and localities, perfect the policy on data classification, have a mechanism for exploiting data, and at the same time, need to have a list of priority data.

Regarding the recommendation on the need for a data classification policy, Mr. Nguyen Quang Dong emphasized: “Classifying data at the correct level is very important for information security, cost savings and efficient operation of government agencies”.

Mr. Nguyen Quang Dong, Director of the Institute for Policy Research and Media Development, discussed at the seminar on October 7. (Photo: Dang Khoa)

Sharing his views on the fundamental data architecture of organizations and enterprises, Mr. Le Nguyen Truong Giang, Director of the Institute of Digital Transformation Strategy, pointed out 6 major challenges that organizations face in the digital transformation process, such as: How to make all components, structures, processes and operations of the organization become systematic, comprehensive, synchronous and resonant; or how to make data-based decisions through the effective application of digital technologies and digital data...

“Organizations that want to make data-driven decisions need a foundational data architecture,” noted Mr. Le Nguyen Truong Giang.

From the experience of consulting and implementing technology solutions for many organizations, Mr. Hoang Trong Ton, Director of Solutions & Products, SVTech Company recommends that units should start with small things to prove effectiveness. “ However, it is still necessary to design and build a standard data platform from the beginning. To exploit data effectively, data management must be good; To analyze data to support decision making, the data source must be of good quality,” Mr. Hoang Trong Ton recommended.

Vietnamnet.vn