Ho Chi Minh City is actively carrying out many activities to develop digital citizens. (Source: VGP News)

According to Mr. Lam Dinh Thang, Director of the Department of Information and Communications of Ho Chi Minh City, the City has been carrying out many activities to develop "digital citizens".

Firstly , it is necessary to raise awareness and widely disseminate information through mass media channels, social networks, and community events to disseminate knowledge about digital transformation and the benefits of using online public services.

The city has built a network of Community Digital Technology Teams with over 11,000 members covering all districts, wards, communes, and residential groups. This will be a force that directly supports people, especially the elderly and disadvantaged groups, on how to use digital devices and basic applications.

Second, the City always focuses on building widespread digital infrastructure, ensuring stable and high-speed internet and telecommunications network quality to all areas, especially suburban and rural areas.

Build free public Wifi access points in parks, libraries, administrative centers... The city is always looking for mechanisms and policies to support the poor to have smart devices and access the digital environment.

Third, continuously improve online public services. Integrate services, create a unified public service platform, help people easily access and use different services.

Ho Chi Minh City is developing a single application for people to access all public services online, from paying bills to registering vehicles, and will continuously update and add new features to the application to meet people's needs.

Fourth, support digital transformation for small and medium enterprises, create favorable conditions for enterprises to transform digitally, apply technology to production and business, organize networking events, and support enterprises to access e-commerce platforms.

In addition, to encourage people and businesses to use online public services, Ho Chi Minh City has also approved a zero-fee policy for five types of administrative procedures that apply full and partial online public services in the area.

Accordingly, 5 types of administrative procedures are subject to a fee of 0 VND, including: Civil status fee; Fee for granting work permits to foreigners working in Vietnam; Business registration fee; Fee for granting certificates of land use rights, house ownership rights, and assets attached to land; Fee for granting construction permits.

However, Mr. Lam Dinh Thang said that to achieve the goal of becoming a smart city, there is still a lot of work to be done. Developing "digital citizens" is a long-term process, requiring cooperation from many parties, from the government to businesses and people.

Regarding the digital citizen application, Ms. Vo Thi Trung Trinh, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Digital Transformation Center, said that the city's digital citizen application will use VNeID accounts as identification. Currently, the Ho Chi Minh City Digital Transformation Center has tested the connection with the national population database and has approved the technology.

According to Ms. Vo Thi Trung Trinh, Ho Chi Minh City residents only need a VNeID account to use the digital citizen application. On this application, people can register for public services, view interaction results from public service systems, and the city's administrative procedure settlement system, instead of having to go to the website.

The 1022 application, the city's digital map will also be integrated into the digital citizen application to increase convenience for people. In addition, public services by field group, essential services in health, education, schools, finding directions, traffic jam information, flood information... will also be integrated into the application.

The Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Digital Transformation Center added that the digital citizen application will also be used as a ticket for payment on public transport, because the City has a subsidy policy for those who use these means of transport.

The digital citizen application is currently being completed and will be launched in the near future.