HANOI - THE CITY FOR PEACE
Hanoi, the capital and heart of the nation, is the political and administrative hub, as well as a major center for culture, science, education, the economy, and international trade.
In 2024, Hanoi was named one of the world's 100 smartest cities by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in collaboration with the World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO). Researchers analyzed data and surveyed 120 residents in each of the 142 cities worldwide, assessing how the city's infrastructure and technology impact overall performance and quality of life.
According to IMD, a smart city is defined as "an urban environment that uses technology to enhance advantages and minimize the limitations of urbanization for its citizens."
The cities in the top 20 are mostly in regions with relatively stable economic and social conditions, even amidst global instability. These cities have implemented initiatives to improve the overall quality of life for their citizens, often focusing on creating green spaces, expanding opportunities for cultural events, and promoting social cohesion. Additionally, many cities have adopted innovative strategies to attract and retain talent, promote sustainable investment activities, and address long-term issues related to inequality, geographical disparities, and social inclusion.
Recently, Hanoi has been implementing a smart city model. This is being carried out through the implementation of Resolution No. 18-NQ/TU, issued by the Hanoi Party Committee on December 30, 2022, regarding digital transformation and the development of smart Hanoi by 2025, with an orientation towards 2030. The three main objectives, "Digital Infrastructure, Digital Platform, and Digital Data," along with the two main requirements, "Information Security and Service Development," are being systematically and comprehensively implemented to ensure effective and practical application in governance and service to citizens and businesses.
A notable achievement is the city's leadership fully utilizing digital signatures on a shared software system for document management and city administration; 100% of the city's agencies have implemented digital document signing and handling entirely online. Some shared information database systems have been deployed at three levels of government to better serve internal operations and administrative procedures.
The city has also developed and is preparing to launch the "Hanoi-S" app, which provides many utilities to help citizens and businesses access the city's administrative agencies in a new way, transforming the relationship between government agencies and citizens on a digital platform.
Several practical services in the downtown area have been directed for implementation to maximize convenience for citizens and businesses, such as the completion of connecting electronic health records with the national population database. Over 1.5 million citizens have fully established records on the city's electronic health record system, and 100% of health insurance medical facilities use citizen ID cards to retrieve information. Over 14.4 million medical visits have been synchronized from the medical management software to the city's electronic health record system.
Cashless parking has been implemented at sites managed by Hanoi Parking Management Company starting April 15. Online public services for issuing judicial record certificates have been provided on the VNeID application since April 22, 2024, with electronic results having the same legal value as paper documents.
In the near future, the city will focus on reviewing and investing in physical infrastructure and information technology equipment, enhancing technological features to support the implementation of online public services such as digital signatures, online payment platforms, and public postal services, and developing a modern, professional, and electronic administrative system to serve citizens.
The city aims to complete and increase the number of administrative procedures provided online, particularly ensuring the achievement of comprehensive online public service targets and minimizing costs for citizens when conducting administrative transactions. Solutions will focus on developing specialized city databases and forming a centralized data center to facilitate the connection and sharing of data between the national population database and other databases. Data connection and sharing are important solutions not only for governance but also for optimizing document simplification in citizens' transactions, reducing administrative procedure costs for citizens, and management costs for government agencies.
Hanoi aims to achieve digital transformation and develop the capital into a green, smart, and modern city by 2025, striving to be among the leading localities in the country in digital transformation. By 2030, Hanoi will become a smart, modern city, gradually connecting with the smart urban network in the region and the world.
Nguyen Hien