A ceremony to launch the Xu Lang Digital Citizen platform and promote e-payment accounts (photo: congthuong.vn)

Implementing the National Digital Transformation Program, Lang Son province aims to be in the top 10 provinces and cities in digital transformation by 2025. Lang Son has established a Steering Committee for Digital Transformation from the provincial to the grassroots level to create consensus and unanimity in direction and implementation to achieve and surpass the goals.

2021 was a turning point for digital transformation in various sectors in Lang Son. The province ranked in the group of national leading provinces and cities in digital transformation while the awareness of digital transformation has spread widely to all sectors and people of all social strata. 

More than 60% of households in the province now have digital store or electronic payment accounts. 100% of schools operate on digital platforms. And the province’s government and import and export activities have become increasingly digitalized.

Hoang Quoc Tuan, Director of the provincial Department of Education and Training, says people from all walks of life are aware of the digital transformation going on.

“Digital transformation in the education sector has improved teaching and education management, advanced administrative reform, promoted the creativity of teachers and students, and given students access to modern teaching methods and digital media skills,” Tuan said.

Digital transformation is no longer something new to citizens in Lang Son, whether in urban areas or rural villages, and it has changed the daily life of government offices, schools, and farms. To support digital transformation, a digital platform called "Xu Lang Digital Citizen" was recently launched.

The platform was developed on a microservice model that is easy to expand and upgrade, with a high load capacity, an intelligent interface, and a scientifically designed information distribution system that makes it easy to use.

The microservice model is an architectural and organizational approach that divides a software app into small independent services.  

Lang Son’s platform allows people to look up basic administrative information, submit documents, look up records, complete online procedures, look up information about land and planning in the locality, interact with the Lang Son iSee virtual assistant system, and make purchases on e-commerce platforms.

People can also use the platform to make recommendations to authorities, report violations and incidents related to social order, the environment, or security, and monitor the progress and effectiveness of the government’s work.

People in Lang Son said: “All denunciations by the people can be submitted to leaders from the grassroots level to the provincial level. This app is practical for us.”

“It’s more convenient, helping us resolve difficulties and pending issues which used not to be imparted to the authorities.”

“The ‘Xu Lang Digital Citizen’ platform is useful in handling many administrative procedures. All local people in our ward are eager and waiting for it.”

Along with the "Xu Lang Digital Citizen" platform, the application of scientific and technological achievements in Party and government agencies and all socio-economic fields has demonstrated the determination of Lang Son province’s administration in building a government serving the people and for the people. With versions available for mobile phones and computers, the leaders at all levels and people can send and handle opinions and petitions anytime, anywhere in a convenient way.

Aiming to have a majority of people over 15 years old installing and using the "Xu Lang Digital Citizen" platform, having electronic payment accounts, and shopping at e-commerce platform Langsoncoopmark.vn or Langsonvoso.vn, the Department of Information and Communications has organized many training sessions for people to use the Xu Lang Digital Citizen platform so that they will support the government in digital transformation.

To realize its goals, Lang Son province has applied innovative methods since it launched the local digital economic development in July, 2021. All members of 1,700 community digital technology groups have reached out to all communes, wards, villages, hamlets, and streets.

Hoang Thi Kieu, a member of the community digital technology group, said: “People strongly support the program. We visit every household and family and instruct every individual to install and use the apps.”

The authority has identified that digital transformation can succeed only if there is the participation of the whole people and people must be the subject, driving force, and goal of digital transformation.

Therefore, the province focuses on raising awareness and equipping people with knowledge so that they can easily access smart applications on digital platforms and use digital services as daily necessity demand, especially people in remote and border areas.

Ho Tien Thieu, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, insists that digital transformation can only be successful when every person is ready to participate and all of the people, especially those in remote and border areas, can benefit from the process.

“Therefore, it’s extremely important to raise public awareness and let people know that they can easily access smart apps integrated on the digital platform. We need to make the use of digital services a daily habit for people. Digital transformation can only be successful if we build digital citizenship,” said Thieu.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, Lang Son is one of the leading provinces and cities in digital transformation and the first province to successfully implement the Digital Border Gate Platform and the "Lang Son Cloud" Make in Vietnam platform.

The state investment was small but generating big benefit and saving costs for the state budget. It’s a role model for Make in Vietnam Cloud Computing platform to be replicated nationwide. Lang Son is also the first province to deploy iSee Lang Son virtual assistant to help people and businesses easily search and access the province's public service portal.

Lang Son is also the first province to digitalize 100% of school activities with 100% of teachers using digital signatures to replace printed academic papers. Lang Son province ranks second in Vietnam in term of selling products on Vietnam’s e-commerce platforms and the 6th in term of successful transactions.

Lang Son’s digital transformation has contributed to raise its Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) and the Provincial Competitiveness Index (CPI). Specifically in 2021 Lang Son’s PAPI reached 45.84 points, ranked 4 of 63 provinces and cities, gained 3.47 points, climbed 33 places compared to 2020, and was in the top group.  

Lang Son’s Provincial Competitiveness Index in 2021 ranked 36th of 63 provinces and cities, ranked 6th out of 14 provinces and cities in the northern mountain region, reached 63.92 points, gained 1.49 points, and climbed 13 places compared to 2020. It was the year Lang Son province recording the highest score and second ranking ever.