Da Nang city has topped digital transformation rankings for the third time so far and has been awarded the Best Vietnam Smart City Award 2022. The Vietnam Software and IT Services Association (VINASA) organised the event in Hanoi. The jury was chaired by the former Minister of Science and Technology, Nguyen Quan. The award was among the 43 given to cities, enterprises, and products considerably contributing to smart city building and national digital transformation.
Da Nang also received prizes for smart governance and management, smart transportation and logistics, startup and innovation city, and city with smart applications serving citizens and enterprises. Da Nang has implemented a number of technology-based applications and initiatives to aid public administration and enhance the quality and delivery of public services.
At the beginning of the year, Da Nang became the second city in Southeast Asia to deploy chatbot tech for tourism. As OpenGov Asia had reported, in an attempt to increase the variety of tourist self-service tools and information channels, the municipal Tourism Department coordinated with a private artificial intelligence (AI) developer to create and pilot Chatbot Danang Fantasticity, the first automatic tourism information search and support channel via text message conversation in Vietnam.
In September, an ambulance journey supervision and management utility was launched on DanaMap or the Danang Smart City application in the central city of Da Nang. The utility allows the municipal Emergency Centre, the Health Department, and residents to monitor the operation of ambulances. The Department is also launching videos that demonstrate how to carry out remote check-ups for patients on ambulances and a database of patients to help doctors check their disease history.
Apart from Da Nang, the cities of Da Lat, Pho Yen, and Dong Xoai were awarded the smart governance and management city award. The central province of Thua Thien-Hue obtained the startup and innovation city award, and Thai Nguyen the award for smart application city serving citizens and enterprises.
Meanwhile, 34 prizes were presented to technological solutions in 17 categories, including administration, transport, environment, health care, agriculture, construction, and tourism. Statistics for smart city building show that the 34 digital solutions have gained over VND 350 billion (US$ 14.3 million) in revenue.
Besides, the jury also selected nine outstanding solutions to grant the five-star rating. These solutions apply advanced technologies including big data, AI, 3D, and virtual reality/extended reality (VR/XR) to help with cities’ governance and management and bring about useful experiences for residents and businesses.
Vietnam has strong digital ambitions and is looking to be a regional digital hub. In 2020, Vietnam approved a National Digital Transformation Programme by 2025, with an orientation toward 2030. The strategy helps accelerate digital transformation through changes in awareness, enterprise strategies, and incentives toward the digitalisation of businesses, administration, and production activities. The plan aims to have 80% of public services at level 4 online. Over 90% of work records at ministerial and provincial levels will be online while 80% of work records at the district level and 60% of work records at the commune level will be processed online.