Hanoi plans to push for a comprehensive digitalization in every public department and unit and eventually to every socio-economic activity in 2022.

Vice-Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Chu Xuan Dung at the meeting. Photo: The Hanoi Times

Vice-Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Chu Xuan Dung gave the remarks at a conference held by the municipal Department of Information and Communications to discuss the objectives set for 2022 on January 21.

To realize this goal, Dung called for the Department to accelerate the formation of the e-government model and the digital transformation program in the capital city in the 2021-2025 period, along with the proposal of making Hanoi a smart city by 2025, with a vision to 2030.

In this regard, Dung expected a strong development of information and communication technologies would serve as the foundation for the establishment of Hanoi’s e-government.

“The local authorities would focus on supporting the development of IT products and digital technologies,” Dung said while calling for the efficient management of the Hanoi Innovative Business Incubator of Information Technology (HBI-IT).

At the meeting, Vice Director of the Hanoi’s Department of Information and Technology Nguyen Viet Hung said  IT application has been one of Hanoi’s main instruments in pushing for both Covid-19 containment and socio-economic recovery in 2021.

Hung referred to the widespread use of Covid-19 prevention and control apps, including PC-Covid and Bluezone, among the public, as well as QR code scanning to control people’s movements.

In addition, the Department has been cooperating with other agencies to develop software for managing asymptomatic Covid-19 patients or those with mild symptoms at home, in turn helping to relieve pressure on the healthcare system.

With digitalization increasingly seen as an inevitable trend for Hanoi’s sustainable development, Hung suggested IT companies would play a key role in this regard.

As of December 31, 2021, Hanoi is home to nearly 8,500 IT companies. Last year, the city’s IT sector posted combined revenue of VND321.3 trillion ($14.2 billion) and created jobs for 189,500 people.

Total exports of computer and electronics products and parts in Hanoi in 2021 stood at $2.9 billion.