The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has urged all districts to conduct programmes on smart city development, with specific targets, roadmaps and implementation measures suited to the characteristics of individual locality.

Leaders of the HCM City People’s Committee discuss implementation of
the city’s smart city development project (Source: VNA) 

In the first phase of its smart city development, the city selected districts 1 and 12 to pilot the project, and there have been some accomplishments after more than two years, Chairman of the committee Nguyen Thanh Phong said.

They include application of cutting-edge technologies in administration, and are a crucial foundation for scaling up the project to the remaining 22 districts, he told a recent meeting.

A council would be set up to study the results of the project in the two districts to ensure effective implementation in other districts, he said.

The 22 districts need to submit their programmes on smart urban development for approval by next month, he said.

“Each district must exert all efforts to push up smart city initiatives to help the administration operate effectively and enhance people’s quality of life.”

Nguyen Van Dung, Chairman of the People’s Committee of District 1, said his district has built a model intelligent operation centre that integrates eight systems: smart security camera system, smart firefighting system, smart urban administration, smart healthcare, smart education, smart tourism, online public services, and information security operations.

It also carried out digital transformation and interconnected information with the city management databases, he said.

For online public services, District 1 has already adopted a non-paper registration process in various sectors such as economy, labour, internal affairs and education, he said.

Online registrations rose by four times last year, he said.

As part of the city’s smart city development project, District 12 has adopted geographic information system (GIS) solutions for urban planning and environmental resource management, Le Truong Hai Hieu, Chairman of its People’s Committee, said.

It helps monitor land usage and detect illegal construction, he said.

The district has improved administrative operations using administrative document management software, which allows the public to monitor administrative procedures in real time, he said.

It has also adopted online public services in various sectors, he added.

Vo Thi Trung Trinh, deputy director of the city Information and Communications Department, said “Districts need to build coordinated data systems and connect their information with the city database.”

Smart city development programmes in districts need to provide convenient public services to individuals and businesses and enhance the quality of public services, she said.