Circular No. 01/2014/TT-BTTTT detailing preferential investment and procurement of domestically produced information technology products and services funded by state budget

CIRCULAR

Article 24provides detailed regulations on prioritizing investment and procurement of domestic products and services in information technology production

informing about the production of domestic products and services using state budget fundsspecialized agency under the People's Committee of the province/city.

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Pursuant to the Law on Information Technology dated June 29, 2006;

Pursuant to Decree No. 64/2007/NĐ-CP dated April 10, 2007 of the Government on the application of information technology in the activities of state agencies;

The Minister of Information and Communications promulgates this Circular amending and supplementing Circular No. 09/2013/TT-BTTTT dated April 8, 2013 of the Minister of Information and Communications on the List of software and hardware, electronic products.

Pursuant to Decision No. 169/2006/QĐ-TTg dated July 17, 2006 of the Prime Minister on investment and procurement of information technology products by agencies and organizations using state budget funds and Decision No. 223/2006/QĐ-TTg dated October 4, 2006 of the Prime Minister amending certain provisions of Decision No. 169/2006/QĐ-TTg;

Based on Decree No. 132/2013/ND-CP dated October 16, 2013 of the Government on the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Information and Communications;

Article 1. Amending and supplementing Circular No. 09/2013/TT-BTTTT dated April 8, 2013 of the Minister of Information and Communications on the List of software and hardware, electronic products as follows:

2. Priority shall be applied in cases of investment and procurement of information technology products and services funded by the state budget or funds derived from the state budget and where such investment and procurement is not for commercial purposes, specifically including:

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular stipulates on:

1. Criteria and List of domestic information technology products and services that are prioritized for investment and procurement in state agencies and organizations.

2. The priority shall be applied in cases of investment and procurement of information technology products and services using state budget funds or funds with origins from the state budget and not for commercial purposes, specifically including:

c) Other activities involving investment and procurement of information technology products and services.

1. This Circular applies to state agencies, state-run units, political organizations, political-social organizations, and units under armed forces (hereinafter collectively referred to as agencies and organizations).

2. Encouragement is given to organizations and businesses not falling within the scope specified in Clause 1 of this Article to apply the provisions of this Circular when investing in and procuring information technology products and services.

Article 2. Applicability

1. This Circular applies to state agencies, state-run public institutions, political organizations, socio-political organizations, and units under armed forces (hereinafter collectively referred to as agencies and organizations).

Information technology products and services produced domestically eligible for priority when invested in and purchased using state budget funds or funds derived from the state budget (hereinafter referred to as prioritized products and services) when:

Chapter II

REGULATIONS ON DOMESTIC INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES PRIORITIZED FOR INVESTMENT AND PROCUREMENT

WITHIN THE COUNTRY IS GIVEN PRIORITY FOR INVESTMENT AND PURCHASES

Article 3. Domestic information technology products and services prioritized for investment and procurement

Domestic information technology products and services prioritized for investment and procurement using state budget funds or funds with origins from the state budget (hereinafter referred to as domestic products and services) are those products and services meeting the following conditions:

1. Belonging to the List of domestic products and services (hereinafter referred to as the List) prescribed in Article 4 of this Circular;

2. Meeting the general criteria prescribed in Article 5 and specific criteria for each type of product and service prescribed in Article 6 of this Circular.

Article 4. Provisions on the List of domestic products and services

1. The List is prescribed in Appendix I attached to this Circular.

2. Technical documentation and user guides in Vietnamese;

Article 5. General criteria for determining domestic products and services

Domestic products and services have the following general criteria:

1. Produced in Vietnam by enterprises in which Vietnamese legal entities and individuals hold controlling interests and controlling shares (for joint-stock companies) or controlling stakes (for other types of enterprises);

2. Registered under trademark and protected according to Vietnamese laws, or registered and completed all requirements and conditions for providing products and services (if applicable) according to Vietnamese laws;

3. Have technical documentation or user manuals in Vietnamese;

4. Clearly announce warranty terms, supplier responsibilities, after-sales policies, and related policies.

Article 6. Specific criteria for determining domestic products and services

Domestic products and services have the following specific criteria:

1. For hardware and electronic products:

a) Revenue from the product must reach at least 10 billion VND/year for two consecutive years, or there must be at least five state agencies, or ten organizations or enterprises, or 500 individuals who have been and are currently using the product;

b) Domestic production costs of the product account for at least 20% of the total production cost of the product, or there must be at least 50 Vietnamese workers with expertise in hardware and electronics working stably for one year or more, including R&D staff, quality control personnel, hardware and electronics production engineers, and workers;

c) The product has been announced as conforming to National Standards and certified and announced as compliant with the specialized information technology and telecommunications products and goods list that must be certified and announced as compliant, or the product has been announced as compliant with the specialized information technology and telecommunications products and goods list that must be announced as compliant;

d) The product is produced by an organization or enterprise that has achieved at least one of the following quality management standards for hardware and electronics production activities: TCVN ISO 9001:2008; TCVN ISO 14001:2004; TCVN ISO 17025:2005, or equivalent.

2. For software products:

a) Revenue from the product must reach at least 500 million VND/year for two consecutive years, or there must be at least two state agencies, or five organizations or enterprises, or 500 individuals who have been and are currently using the product;

b) Technical functions and features comply with business requirements or corresponding regulations and guidelines on the application of information technology in state agencies (if applicable), or the product is developed from open-source software, adhering to open standards;

c) Domestic production costs of the product account for at least 30% of the total production cost of the product, or there must be at least 20 Vietnamese workers with expertise in software working stably for one year or more, including R&D staff, quality assurance personnel, software engineers, and programmers;

d) The product must be produced by an organization or enterprise that has obtained certification for software production activities according to the CMMI level 3 or higher standard, or TCVN ISO 9001:2008, or the product has an Open Source Maturity Model (OSMM) score of 60 points or higher, or a Process Failure Point (PoF) score of 50 points or lower.

3. For digital content products:

a) The product must comply with laws on the provision and use of content and information over the internet (if it is a product provided through the internet);

b) Revenue from the product must reach at least 2 billion VND/year for two consecutive years, or there must be at least twenty organizations or enterprises, or at least 500 individuals who have been and are currently using the product;

c) Domestic production costs of the product account for at least 30% of the total production cost of the product, or there must be at least 20 Vietnamese workers with expertise in software or digital content working stably for one year or more, including R&D staff, quality assurance personnel, software engineers, and programmers.

4. For information technology services:

a) Revenue from service provision activities must reach at least 2 billion VND/year for two consecutive recent years, or have at least five organizations and enterprises currently using the services.

b) Provided by organizations and enterprises with a service quality management system according to ISO standards, prioritizing those that meet the TCVN ISO 27001 standard.

For services related to customer data, the organizations and enterprises providing the services must implement measures to ensure the security and confidentiality of customer information and data.

Article 7. Announcement of Domestic Products and Services

1. For information technology products and services meeting the general criteria specified in Article 5 and specific criteria for each type of product and service stipulated in Article 6 of this Circular, organizations and enterprises shall be responsible for:

a) Announcing information technology products and services that meet the investment and procurement priority criteria on mass media and their own websites (if available), while fully bearing responsibility for the accuracy of the announced information regarding such products and services;

b) Notifying information related to the announced information technology products and services to the Ministry of Information and Communications (Department of Information Technology - 18 Nguyen Du Street, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi) using the form attached as Appendix II of this Circular;

c) Supplementing or changing information about products and services when there are changes to the previously announced information technology products and services, on mass media and their own websites, and notifying the Ministry of Information and Communications (Department of Information Technology) using the form attached as Appendix IV of this Circular;

d) In case of discontinuing the supply or support for announced information technology products and services, the organization or enterprise must announce this on mass media and their own websites (if available) and notify the Ministry of Information and Communications (Department of Information Technology) using the form attached as Appendix V of this Circular;

e) Ensuring the quality of announced information technology products and services as stated in the announcement.

2. Within ten working days from receiving the notification from the organization or enterprise (sent using the form attached as Appendix III, Appendix IV, or Appendix V of this Circular), the Ministry of Information and Communications shall be responsible for:

a) Reviewing and posting information about the products and services of the organization or enterprise on its electronic portal at www.mic.gov.vn for agencies and organizations to refer to when investing in or purchasing information technology products and services;

b) Organizing inspections to verify compliance with the criteria for the announced information technology products and services (if necessary) and posting the inspection results on its electronic portal at www.mic.gov.vn.

3. Encouraging specialized units for information technology under Ministries, agencies equivalent to Ministries, and provincial Departments of Information and Communications to survey, evaluate, and announce information technology products and services that meet the investment and procurement priority criteria within their respective areas of responsibility.

Chapter III

PROVISIONS ON PRIORITY INVESTMENT AND PROCUREMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Article 8. Priority Provisions for Investment and Procurement of Information Technology Products and Services

1. The Project Owner, Heads of agencies and organizations primarily responsible for investment and procurement (hereinafter referred to collectively as the Project Owner) when using state budget funds or funds with a state budget origin to invest in and procure projects applying and developing information technology, must prioritize the investment and procurement of domestic information technology products and services as stipulated in Article 3 of this Circular.

2. Responsibilities of the Project Owner:

a) Not to set requirements, conditions, or features that may lead to the exclusion of domestically produced information technology products and services in preliminary design, construction design, bidding plans, investment plans, tender documents, request for quotation, invitation to bid, or other procurement requirements;

b) To have a scoring plan to give priority points in the evaluation table to contractors and suppliers offering domestically produced information technology products and services based on compliance with current laws on bidding;

c) To clearly specify in the tender documents, request for quotation, or similar documents specific criteria to prioritize domestic products and services as stipulated in Article 3 of this Circular;

d) To consider information technology products and services announced by organizations and enterprises according to the provisions of Article 7 to decide on selecting suitable products and services in accordance with this Circular.

3. In cases where the information technology products and services required for investment and procurement are listed in the Catalogue attached as Appendix I to this Circular, but due to special technical requirements of the project, the Project Owner does not invest in or procure domestic products and services, they must prepare a justification report and implement as prescribed in Article 9 of this Circular.

Article 9. Review and Approval When Not Investing in or Procuring Domestic Products and Services

1. Approval Process:

a) The Project Owner prepares a justification report to seek professional opinions from specialized units on information technology under their Ministry, sector, or locality. In cases where the Project Owner is also the specialized unit on information technology, they must establish an independent advisory team to review and propose investment and procurement. The independent advisory team is decided by the competent authority responsible for investment and procurement decisions and must meet the following conditions simultaneously: At least three members; members of the independent advisory team do not belong to the Project Owner's unit; have appropriate qualifications and experience;

b) Content of the professional opinion document: Review and evaluate the Project Owner's justification report, analyze the purpose of use to determine the requirements of the products and services needed for investment and procurement; assess the ability of domestic products and services to meet the requirements of the products and services needed for investment and procurement; determine the reasonableness of not investing in or procuring domestic products and services and clearly state the conclusion regarding the Project Owner's proposal;

c) Within five working days from receiving a valid justification report, the specialized unit on information technology or the independent advisory team must submit a professional opinion document to the competent authority responsible for investment and procurement decisions and the Project Owner;

d) Based on the professional opinion document, the Project Owner submits the justification report to the competent authority responsible for investment and procurement decisions to request approval for not investing in or procuring domestic products and services and bears responsibility for the authenticity of the documents and analyses and arguments in the justification report;

e) Within ten working days from receiving the Project Owner's justification report, the Head of the competent authority responsible for investment and procurement decisions assigns the relevant functional agency to conduct a review to approve the decision not to invest in or procure domestic products and services and bears direct responsibility for the decision;

2. The explanation includes:

a) Justify the purpose of the investment in products and services and the special requirements of the work that domestic products and services cannot meet;

b) Documentation describing the functional and technical specifications of the products and services to be invested in or purchased to meet the project's requirements;

c) Documentation proving that the special requirements regarding the functions and technical specifications of domestic products and services do not meet the requirements of the functions and technical specifications of the products and services needed for investment and procurement;

d) Professional opinion letter from the specialized unit or the independent advisory team and other related documents (if any).

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 10. Responsibilities of Relevant Agencies

1. The Department of Information Technology shall be responsible for:

a) Taking the lead and coordinating with relevant agencies to organize guidance on the implementation of this Circular;

b) Organizing the evaluation of information technology products and services, submitting to the Minister for consideration, updating, and supplementing the List;

c) Summarizing the implementation situation of the provisions of this Circular to submit to the Minister for reporting to the Prime Minister.

2. Specialized units for information technology of Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and Provincial Departments of Information and Communications under central cities shall be responsible for:

a) Organize guidance, dissemination, and urging subordinate agencies and units under their Ministry, sector, or locality to implement the contents of this Circular;

b) Provide professional opinions in writing and bear responsibility for their professional opinions when contributing to investment projects, investment plans, and procurement plans for information technology products and services funded by the state budget of subordinate agencies and units under their Ministry, sector, or locality;

c) Require Project Owners under their Ministry, sector, or locality to submit reports to the specialized unit on information technology about the implementation of the provisions of this Circular. Aggregate and submit reports according to the form attached as Appendix VI to this Circular to the Ministry of Information and Communications (Department of Information Technology) before March 31 each year for reporting to the Prime Minister;

d) Provincial Departments of Information and Communications and inspection agencies with relevant functions under Ministries and sectors regularly or at random inspect and audit the implementation of the priority investment and procurement regulations for information technology products and services funded by the state budget in their localities or sectors.

Article 11. Transitional Provisions

1. In cases where investment and procurement have been reviewed and approved and implemented before this Circular takes effect, the investment and procurement of domestically produced information technology products and services shall continue to be carried out in accordance with Circular No. 42/2009/TT-BTTTT dated December 30, 2009, issued by the Minister of Information and Communications detailing the priority for investment and procurement of domestically produced information technology products funded by the state budget or funds originating from the state budget.

2. In cases where investment and procurement have been appraised and approved but not yet implemented before the effective date of this Circular, the investment and procurement of domestically produced information technology products and services shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of this Circular.

Article 12. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from April 8, 2014.

2. This Circular replaces Circular No. 42/2009/TT-BTTTT dated December 30, 2009 of the Minister of Information and Communications detailing preferential investment and procurement of domestically produced information technology products funded by state budget or funds originating from the state budget.

3. During the implementation process, if there are difficulties, they should be reported to the Ministry of Information and Communications (Department of Information Technology) for prompt resolution.

4. The Heads of the Office, the Department of Information Technology, the Directors of Provincial Departments of Information and Communications under central cities, and relevant agencies, organizations, enterprises, and individuals are responsible for implementing this Circular./.