Realizing the importance, in fact, necessity, of information and communications technology today, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, the Department of Information and Communication, and the International Data Group (IDG) Vietnam launched the National Conference on e-Government in 2015.

Conducted at the New World Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, the special gathering hoped to “empower municipal governments, organizations, businesses and citizens to build and develop future community in a more dynamic and effective way.”  

When it comes to IT needs, Microsoft’s CityNext is considered the best solution. It excels in many areas like consultancy; development and deployment of comprehensive solutions for e-government; e-health and smart transportation. It is very effective and because it gathers all the best solutions for the mentioned needs, even including other needs like energy, water, public safety, tourism, justice, infrastructure, recreation and culture. Information coming from CityNext gets transmitted straight to both government and private businesses or citizens, saving a lot of resources along the way. CityNext can also be experienced in real time, creating transparency and community involvement between the state and private sector. 

Smart City has also become a crucial part of Vietnam with significant ICT applications for government management. “Smart” transportation and e-health have become big factors in enticing visitors into the country because of their fast and effective solutions for travel and health care needs.     

Danang City is a good example of the incredible advantages brought by proper ICT applications. It has implemented Cloud-based Data Centre model with open platforms including Window Server 2012 R2, System Centre 2012 R2 and Data Centre 2012 in assisting e-government infrastructure. In the health department, the technology has solved problems like providing health service and social service. Microsoft is in the process of improving further in this department by collaborating with health organizations, communities and other potential partners in delivering high quality health care and saving costs at the same time. Both health providers like doctors and beneficiaries like the patients can benefit well from this service by gaining access to both information and equipment anytime and anywhere with guarantee of safety and security.

In a survey for e-Government Development Index conducted by the United Nations in 2014, Vietnam ranked 99 out of 193 countries all over the world and 26 out of 47 in Asia, even ahead of Malaysia and Thailand. The survey was based on the following criteria: online services, tele-transportation infrastructure and human capital. In the Global Networked Readiness Index report by the World Economic Forum in April 2015, Vietnam placed 85^th out of 143 countries.

Alongside the conference, a Technology Exhibition was also conducted, offering solutions in areas such as Communications Infrastructure, Data Centre, Big Data, Cloud Computing, National Authentication Centre, Connection Centre, Management and Typical Data Sharing Solution, Information Security, e-Health Record, Traffic Management, Supervision Products and even more.