A regulation on Ho Chi Minh City’s common-use databases is expected to be issued in the third quarter of this year, Nguyen Thien Nhan, Secretary of the municipal Party Committee, said at a recent conference to review the past 18 months of project implementation.

A corner of HCM City. 

The database is a valuable resource for business and needs to be protected from sabotage, he said.

The database integration is part of the smart-city project through 2020. The city set an earlier date than other provinces or cities in the country.

To further the project, the city will carry out management reform based on IT application.

“We're not waiting until we are rich to build a smart urban area,” Nhan said.

Vo Thi Trung Trinh, deputy director of the city's Department of Information and Communication, said the city had set up a common-use system for databases after 18 months of implementation.

The system integrates the city’s main databases including electronic texts, hotlines, enterprise registrations, foreign investment information, public projects, land registry, health facilities, medical practice certificates and educational establishments.

In the first stage of the smart-city operation centre, the city piloted several integrated databases from more than 1,000 camera systems of the city Department of Transport and people’s committees in districts 1, 12, Phu Nhuan and Go Vap.

A representative of the People’s Committee of District 1 said the district was piloting its own smart city operation centre at the committee’s facility.

The centre has connected 750 cameras installed throughout residential areas and police offices. The camera systems have helped discover crimes and social disorder, he said.

“Every day, 30 messages about social disorder are sent to the centre,” he added.

Truong Thi Mai Huong, deputy head of the HCM City Development Institute, said the institute is responsible for developing an economic forecasting centre, which is one of the pillars for smart urban development.

The institute has integrated databases and dashboards which will supervise the city’s social and economic development. 

The dashboards will be updated regularly, Huong said.

The institute has also set up three simulation models to forecast the scale of development of enterprises and residents’ living standards as well as the city’s gross domestic product growth and other development indicators.

Scenarios for the city’s growth are also included in the simulation models, with the aim of identifying demand for capital and human resources.  

Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, said the Department of Information and Communication should finish the integration of the city’s databases by the year end.

In August 2020, the city’s databases are expected to be connected with all departments and districts’ databases, he added.

The smart-city operation centre will be used to receive information on emergencies and rescues, and to respond to feedback from residents and enterprises.

The Department of Home Affairs will be in charge of training human resources for the project.

Tran Quang Lam, director of the city's Department of Transport, said the department still lacked a sufficient number of staff to carry out smart transport.