The central city of Da Nang and the Ministry of Finance have topped the 2021 Digital Transformation Index (DTI) rankings in the cities/ provinces and ministry categories, respectively. The Ministry of Information and Telecommunications (MIC) presented the Index at the third meeting of the National Committee on Digital Transformation, earlier this week.
Da Nang city topped the ranking for cities and provinces, scoring 0.6419 points, 0.1545 higher than the 2020 ranking released last year. Thua Thien-Hue came in second place (0.5872 points) and Ho Chi Minh City climbed two spots to rank third. The top ten also included Bac Ninh, Lang Son, Ninh Binh, Quang Ninh, Thai Nguyen, Binh Phuoc, and Bac Giang.
The Ministry of Finance led the rankings of 17 ministries and ministry-level agencies providing public services, gaining 0.6321 points, 0.13 higher than the previous ranking. It was followed by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and Vietnam Social Security. Also in the top ten were the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications, the Environment and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Transport, and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology jumped two spots to rank first among nine ministries and ministry-level agencies that do not offer public services with 0.4736 points. It was followed by Vietnam Television (VTV) and Vietnam News Agency (VNA). VNA led in two indicators on cybersecurity and digital transformation.
The MIC Deputy Minister stated that 2021 was the second year Vietnam had implemented the national programme on digital transformation despite the adverse resurgence of COVID-19. In this context, Vietnam has pioneered the application of various digital apps and platforms, attracting millions of users. He urged ministries and localities nationwide to continue the acceleration of digital transformation.
In February, Da Nang became the second city in Southeast Asia to deploy chatbot tech in tourism. To increase the variety of tourist self-service tools and information channels, the municipal Tourism Department had coordinated with a private artificial intelligence (AI) developer to create and pilot Chatbot Danang Fantasticity, the first automatic tourism information search and support channel via text message conversation in Vietnam.
As OpenGov Asia reported, during its six-month trial, the chatbot was updated with relevant information about famous destinations, events, weather, ATM locations, and hotlines, among others. According to the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Centre, Event Countdown is one of Danang FantastiCity Chatbot’s notable features. The function helps tourists avoid missing out on any ongoing or future events in the city and can even plan routes to the destinations.
By registering with an email or phone number, tourists can receive e-coupon bar codes with price promotions. A wide range of attraction sites, tourist activities, and entertainment outlets around the city offer e-coupons via the chatbot. The technology can also communicate with international tourists as it offers English for all its information categories. The chatbot will be available in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.
Further, as part of its digital transformation journey, in April, traders at wet markets in Da Nang went cashless using the e-wallet mobile application Viettel Money, under a 4.0 wet market model. Owners of over 1,000 stalls at Da Nang’s three major wet markets, namely Con, Han, and Dong Da, used QR codes that allowed customers to make online payments through access to select banks and Viettel Money.
