E-government and open data are irreversible trends and Vietnam has been preparing to apply them at all levels of government agencies, stated Mai Tien Dung, Minister of the Government Office, at a January 16 workshop assessing Vietnam’s open data and digital government readiness.
Minister of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung gave a speech at the workshop.
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Currently, the International Open Data Charter is adopted by 52 governments. Adoption has reached the national level at 17 of these countries, and the 35 others have introduced the Charter at the local/subnational level, said Alla Morrison, World Bank’s Program Officer on Development Data Innovation.
Open data, according to Morrison, is digital data that is made available with technical and legal specifications necessary for it to be used, reused, and redistributed freely by anyone, anytime, and anywhere.
Specifically, national level open data consists of national statistics, state budget, weather forecasts, and national maps, while open data on the local/subnational level ranges from crime data, security, and transportation to business registration and education.
The world is witnessing a significant global transformation facilitated by technology and digital media, fueled by data and information, especially open data, informed senior World Bank official Tran Thi Lan Huong. This transformation has enormous potential to foster more transparent, accountable, efficient, responsive, and effective governments, in addition to creating added value for socio-economic development and improving the quality of online public services.
Huong referred to pioneering countries such as the US, England or Denmark, where the application of open data has helped establishing hundreds of enterprises and generated thousands of new jobs. Every year, the Global Positioning System (GPS) generates US$122 billion for the US economy, while open data on weather forecasts has created 400 enterprises and provided employment for 4,000 workers in the US alone.
“I look forward to having a legal framework and roadmap on building open data, with an aim of developing Vietnam’s e-governance,” Huong said.
Developing e-government will prove vital in the future, as digital data is considerably cheaper than other types. For example, assuming digital data has a relative cost of 1, data through phone goes for 20, post office for 30, and direct meeting for 50, explained Kim Andreasson, consultant of World Bank.
In 1990, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the US received 4 million online tax declarations in the first year of implementing the online service. By 2000, this number increased to 35 million, and has surged to 100 million 10 years later. Last year, 127 million out of the 145 million tax payers opted to declare tax online, indicating the long-term efficiency of e-government operations.
Under an agreement with the Vietnamese government, World Bank’s delegation will conduct a study and consult related ministries and administrative agencies before evaluating the level of the country’s e-government readiness, said Andreasson.
The most challenging issue for Vietnam at the moment is to build a national database on administrative procedures to ensure connectivity with the National Public Services Portal at a single online address, informed Dung.
“We hope to receive more recommendations for Vietnam to start an open data initiative and e-government in the coming time,” he added.
