Hanoi Times – A three-year, national programme to promote the use of information technology in public offices will kick off in 2008.
"To get good results for the programme, the responsibility of each ministry, sector and locality, the timeline, the legal framework for IT use, the technology required and the human resources needed will have to be clearly defined and provided for," said Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan at last week’s conference on the feasibility of the programme.
The deputy prime minister has ultimate accountability for the programme’s performance.
He urged the Ministry of Information and Communications to make public information about the program within the next month.
"Human resources plays a very important role in the success of the programme. Therefore, the Ministry of Interior, in co-operation with the Ministry of Information and Communications, will need to recruit more IT staff for all government offices," he added.
At the conference, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Van Bang said IT applications should be selected based on the requirements of each ministry, sector and locality.
"The government will announce the programme, and offices will be responsible for carrying it out, but it is up to each ministry, sector and locality to submit requests for their specific IT needs," Bang said.
Vice Chairwoman of Da Nang City People’s Committee Nong Thi Minh Ngoc requested the quick completion of an IT network specifically for use by government offices only, because the current network does not have the capacity to handle sophisticated IT applications.
Finding well-trained IT professionals will be the programme’s greatest task.
According to Deputy Minister of Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan, the ministry has set a special salary level for IT staff, one that is two and a half times higher than other levels. Nonetheless, it is still having difficulty recruiting the necessary IT personnel.
Director of HCM City’s Post and Telematics Department Le Manh Ha asked the government to do a comprehensive review of the 112 Project, an earlier national IT application programme for state offices that failed making it necessary to develop a different programme.
"To prepare for this programme, we have already conducted a survey of the IT needs of each ministry, sector and locality. We learned valuable lessons with the 112 Project, and will keep them in mind to avoid making the same mistakes," said Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Vu Duc Dam. According to government estimates, the programme will cost VND11tril (US$700mil).
(Vietnamnet)
