Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a key driver of the modernization of public administration globally.
AI, which was initially deployed only as pilot projects, is now deeply integrated into public administration to automate work processes, support planning and decision-making, and improve the quality of public services in a citizen-centered manner. Experience in many countries shows that AI brings significant benefits to public administration.
These experiences serve as an important reference for Vietnam to develop and implement AI solutions, enhance national governance efficiency, and improve the operation of the administrative apparatus in the digital transformation process.
AI in public administration
The AI Governance Report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) compiles over 200 AI application cases across 11 government functions, showing that AI is gradually becoming a core component of digital government.
In the public sector, AI is widely applied to automate and personalize services, support analysis and forecasting for policy planning, detect fraud, and improve the efficiency of civil servants. Notably, approximately 67% of OECD member countries have applied AI to improve the design and delivery of public services.
Governments tend to prioritize the application of AI in services with high transaction volumes and high levels of interaction with citizens. According to the OECD, the majority of AI applications are geared towards automating, simplifying, or personalizing services (57%), followed by supporting decision-making, analysis, and forecasting (45%), and anomaly detection to enhance accountability (30%).
Alongside opportunities, countries are also particularly aware of risks such as data bias, lack of transparency in algorithms, the digital divide between population groups, and the potential for declining public trust if AI is not properly governed. Therefore, AI deployment is always linked to frameworks of "trustworthy AI" and principles of accountability.
Typical models
Although all countries view AI as a driver for improving governance efficiency, each chooses a different approach depending on its level of development, institutional capacity, and strategic goals. The three cases below are typical examples.
Estonia has integrated AI deeply into its e-government platform through the “Kratt” strategy (2019), built on four pillars: promoting AI applications in both the public and private sectors, enhancing research and development skills and capabilities, perfecting the legal framework, and creating a favorable environment.
Typical applications include machine learning technology for detecting anomalies in the national X-Road data exchange system, algorithms for matching labor supply and demand at the Unemployment Insurance Fund, and speech recognition systems for recording parliamentary sessions. Notably, Estonia was quick to enact legislation on algorithmic liability, clearly defining legal responsibility for the use of automated decision-making systems in the public sector.
As a result, over the past 20 years, Estonia has become one of the world's leading digitized nations, also known as e-Estonia, reflecting the extent to which digital services and solutions have permeated the lives of more than 1.3 million people.
Former Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid (2016-2021) once emphasized: “A key to Estonia’s success is simplifying processes before digitizing. Many countries only digitize outdated, unnecessary, or overly complex procedures, creating a ‘digital bureaucracy’ rather than a truly effective system. Estonia, on the other hand, carefully examines processes first, then digitizes what remains so that the solutions deliver real value.”
While Estonia builds AI on a foundation of digital data and institutions, Singapore pursues a "AI for the public good" strategy, placing people at its center. According to the Singapore Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI), the National AI Strategy, announced in 2019, aims to create economic value, improve the quality of life for citizens, and position Singapore as a world leader in AI development and governance. Throughout the strategy is the principle that all AI applications must provide tangible benefits to citizens and businesses and be implemented responsibly.
By 2023, Singapore expanded its focus to five strategic areas: healthcare, smart cities, education , security and safety, and logistics. Its strengths lie in building a synchronized ecosystem between the government, businesses, and research institutions, along with a high-quality data platform, a progressive legal framework, and tools to support civil servants in applying AI in their daily work.
Unlike the two aforementioned countries, Dubai views AI as a tool to enhance urban governance and improve the efficiency of its administrative apparatus. According to Gulf News , with the ambition to become the world's "digital capital," Dubai places AI at the center of its smart city development strategy and sets specific goals such as training 1,000 civil servants in AI, implementing 20 pilot projects, and increasing the productivity of the government apparatus by 20%.
Many projects have been put into operation, notably a platform providing real-time public service information, an image recognition system for detecting and addressing urban infrastructure problems, and AI tools to support the evaluation of tender documents. In addition, Dubai is preparing for a shift towards "Agent AI," while remaining steadfast in its principles of data governance, ensuring humanistic values, transparency, and the reliability of the technology.
Despite choosing different approaches, all three models show that AI is only effective when placed within a synchronized ecosystem, including a strategic vision, high-quality data, appropriate institutions, and a digitally competent workforce.
Suggestions for Vietnam
In Vietnam, the National Digital Transformation Program (2020) laid the foundation for the digitalization of public administration. Following this, the National Strategy on AI Research, Development, and Application until 2030 aims to place Vietnam among the top four ASEAN countries in AI, while Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo identifies science, technology, and digital transformation as the leading breakthrough drivers.
In terms of infrastructure, the National Public Service Portal and the National Population Database in Project 06 have connected the identification data of tens of millions of citizens; the Ministry of Public Security is also developing a national virtual assistant to support citizens and civil servants in handling administrative procedures. However, compared to Estonia, Singapore, or Dubai, the application of AI in governance in Vietnam is still in its early stages, fragmented, and has not yet formed typical models for replication.
Based on the experiences of other countries, several suggestions can be drawn for Vietnam.
Firstly, it is necessary to develop a vision of "AI for the benefit of the community" linked to national digital transformation. Singapore's experience shows that when AI is placed within a comprehensive vision of a digital nation, ministries and agencies will view it as a tool to enhance social welfare rather than just a technical solution. Based on this, Vietnam needs to develop its own AI strategy for the public sector, linked to digital transformation programs, while clearly defining goals regarding productivity, service quality, transparency, and social trust.
Secondly, it is necessary to select a number of key areas for in-depth implementation, creating exemplary models as a basis for replication. Vietnam could prioritize online public administrative services with virtual assistants to support procedure lookup and file tracking; healthcare and social security; education with adaptive learning platforms; urban management and environment; and the fields of taxation and public finance.
Third, it is necessary to focus on building data infrastructure and shared platforms as a foundation for AI applications. Experience from Estonia and Singapore shows that AI is only effective when operated on a sufficiently large, high-quality, and secure data platform. Therefore, it is necessary to continue standardizing and interconnecting national databases on population, businesses, land, insurance, health, etc., while simultaneously issuing open standards for connectivity and strict regulations on the protection of personal data.
Fourth, there is a need to invest heavily in the capacity of civil servants and encourage a proactive spirit of experimentation. Vietnam needs to identify digital competence and AI understanding as a component of the competency standards for civil servants, and could also establish "policy laboratories" to test AI applications within a controlled framework.
It can be affirmed that AI is opening up vast innovation opportunities for government administration and governance globally. The experience of pioneering countries shows that success does not come from technology alone, but from the synergy between strategic vision, institutions, data infrastructure, and human capabilities.
For Vietnam, proactively learning and flexibly applying these lessons will be a crucial condition for developing practical AI solutions that better serve the people and enhance the operational efficiency of public administration in the digital transformation process.
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Dieser Artikel ist neu veröffentlicht von / This article is republished from: Vietnam.vn, 12.09.2026
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