The Hanoi Department of Information and Communication will take measures to accelerate the city's digital transformation and smart development in 2024, according to a meeting on January 22.

QR code used at a grocery shop in Gia Lam District, Hanoi. Photo: Pham Huy/The Hanoi Times

The department will continue to support the city's government agencies in their digital transformation plans to make Hanoi a “smart city”, evaluate their digital transformation progress, and advise the local authority to complete the city's database.

Measures will be taken to boost the performance of enterprises in the ICT sector and develop digital technologies and infrastructure for the growth of e-government, digital economy, and digital society.

Commenting on the department's tasks in 2024, Hanoi People's Committee Vice Chairman Ha Minh Hai said the agency needs stronger measures to communicate the city government's idea of smart city development and digital transformation.

"Hanoi aims to achieve a green, digitalized, and circular economy without changing the overall workload and salaries, but with better results," he said.

The deputy chairman urged the Department of Information and Communication to study relevant regulations to counsel the city on the enforcement of the amended Capital Law, once it is approved.

He also urged the department to strengthen the development of digital databases, which are the most important factor for the digital economy and should be clean and publicly shared among people and enterprises.

"Infrastructure construction should be the focus, especially for remote districts and areas," he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Information and Communication Nguyen Huy Dung said Hanoi has achieved many positive results in 2023.

He said the ministry will stand by the Hanoi department to regain the lead in digital transformation soon. Accordingly, the ministry will continue to work with Hanoi authorities to solve digital transformation problems in 2024, as it did last year.

He urged the Hanoi Department of Information and Communications to make better use of the tools provided by the ministry to speed up the digital transformation process in all fields and improve the quality of government management.

In 2023, the department helped set up the Committee for Administrative Reform and Digital Transformation. The committee has the authority to issue rules and regulations and to assign specific tasks to individuals and units in order to facilitate the digital development of the city.

The department cooperated with telecommunication enterprises in the city in 2023 to ensure thorough communication channels between authorities and people and enterprises, thus providing timely information on major events and raising public awareness on diseases, fire prevention and rescue.

The department and local media have actively cooperated to disseminate information on important projects, such as the construction of Ring Road No.4 - Hanoi Capital Region, the drafting of the amended Capital Law, and the overall urban planning of the capital.

In 2023, the department monitored more than 230 videos on digital platforms, asked Google to remove a Facebook post with fake content, and inspected 155 portals, of which 17 were referred to authorized units for handling.

The department also successfully hosted the Vietnam-Asia Smart Cities Summit in mid-November, creating a two-day event for experts and business leaders to discuss solutions that can boost the city's digital development.