Deputy Minister of Information and Communication Nguyen Minh Hong told the 5th annual Viet Nam e-Government Symposium, "There has been major progress in the e-governance programme in the last five years but it should be speeded up."
Around 500 policy makers, ICT managers, and sponsors attended the meeting to discuss preparations with regard to human resources, government policies, and technologies.
Reviewing the results of the e-governance programme in the last five years, Hoang Quoc Lap, director of the IT Promotion Department, listed its shortcomings: some basic targets had not been achieved; the Government lacked the capability to manage IT; the legal framework was poor as was human resources; and funds had been wasted on buying systems that were not compatible.
"e-Government involves changing the entire system – targets, methods, processes, practices – and modernising the functioning of Government agencies. IT is the most important tool for effecting this change," Lap said.
e-Governance would mean changing public administration from personal and paper-based working to an on-line environment to provide efficient, better, and clear services, he explained.
The Government has tried to improve the environment for e-government by passing several new laws on electronic transactions, copyright protection, and information technology.
Lap said to ensure the success of the e-government programme, the Government would have to set up a good information infrastructure including broadband internet, database, digitalisation, and safely sharing information, promoting administrative reform, drafting plans for IT use, setting up new agencies to oversee development of e-government, and improving human resources.
Lessons to be learnt
Cisco Systems’ director of Public Sector Program in ASEAN, James SL Yong, listed 10 key lessons for successfully adopting e-government.
"Strong alignment with national goals, leadership, governance and co-ordination, public sector reform and process redesign before ICT will lead to successful e-government," Yong said.
Having a suitable business model, focus on service delivery channels and quality, security and privacy for trust-building, and adopting an "enterprise" approach were also very important factors, he said.
"Collaboration between the government, business, and community, capability development, ICT planning, and markets are the other major factors," he said.
According to the 2007 annual Viet Nam ICT Outlook Report by the HCM City Computer Association (HCA), the country’s e-Readiness ranking had improved this year by 1 to No 65 among 69 nations surveyed.
More information about the e-governance project is available at www.egov.com.vn.
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Quelle/Source: Viet Nam News, 06.12.2007
