As the legal framework for e-government remains incomplete, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has urged related government agencies to finalize decrees governing the operation of the e-government in 2020.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the meeting. Photo: VGP.

At a government meeting on August 26, Mr. Phuc requested the Ministry of Public Security to speed up the drafting of a decree on data privacy protection to submit to the government for approval in 2020.

Meanwhile, the Government Office and the Ministry of Information and Communications are tasked with completing a decree on e-authorization and verification in the third quarter of this year.

The development of some key components for e-government are still behind schedule, including the national database on citizen and land, as well as a lack of investment for cyber security, Mr. Phuc added, saying less than 10% of the state budget for IT is allocated for this purpose.

Mr. Phuc also pointed out that only 15.9% of public online services provided at the most advanced stage available (stage 4), making it a challenging task to realize the 30% target in 2020.

As of present, there are eight ministries and 25 provinces/cities reporting the rate of public online services at stage 4 below 10%, which is an worryingly alarming rate, Mr. Phuc stated.

Mr. Phuc requested government agencies and localities to take action and ensure the 30% rate of public online services at stage 4 in 2020, in turn laying the foundation for the majority of public services at stage 4 in 2021.

The PM expected all provinces and agencies to complete integrating their databases with the National Reporting System in October, while more public services should be incorporated into the national public online services portal.

According to Mr. Phuc, over 50,000 IT firms in Vietnam are playing a key role in speeding up the digitization process in Vietnam, especially in mastering core technologies and developing the platform for digitization.

At the meeting, Vice Minister of Public Security Nguyen Duy Ngoc said the ministry has so far collected 40 million data declarations from citizens, and is targeting to put into operation the national database from July 1, 2021.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said it is targeting to complete the IT infrastructure for the land database by the end of 2020 for later integration into the national public online services portal.

On August 19, the Vietnamese government launched the National Reporting System and the Government Operations Center,  which Mr. Phuc said is a significant step towards the building of Vietnam’s government of integrity, transparency and for benefits of the people as well as enterprises