Decision No. 112/2001/QĐ-TTg Approving the Project on Computerizing Administrative Management of State Administration for the Period 2001-2005

Pursuant to …;

Approving the Project on Administrative Management Informationization of the State for the period 2001-2005

PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Government Organization Law dated September 30, 1992;

Pursuant to Directive No. 58-CT/TW dated October 17, 2000 of the Politburo on accelerating the application and development of information technology in the process of industrialization and modernization for the period 2001-2005;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 06/2001/NQ-CP dated June 6, 2001 of the Government's regular session in May 2001;

Considering the proposal of the Minister, Chairman of the Government Office,

DECISION:

Article 1. Approves the Project on Administrative Management Informationization of the State for the period 2001-2005 as the basis for ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, provincial people's committees under the central government to develop and implement projects on administrative management informationization within their functions and authorities (the project attached hereto).

Article 2. The Government Office shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, the Organizational and Civil Service Department of the Government, and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment to guide ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, provincial people's committees under the central government in implementing this project.

Article 3. This Decision takes effect from the date of signature.

Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of provincial and municipal people's committees directly under the central government are responsible for implementing this Decision./.

THE PROJECT ON INFORMATIONIZATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT OF THE STATE

PERIOD 2001-2005
(Annexed to Decision No. 112/2001/QĐ-TTg dated July 25, 2001 of the Prime Minister)

The Government Office has been assigned by the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers the task of researching and implementing the project on administrative management informationization since 1990.

In carrying out this task, from 1991 to 1997, the Government Office implemented four projects, including two projects funded by the French Government (1991-1993 and 1994-1996), one project funded by the state budget under the national program on information technology (1996-1998), and one wide-area computer network project of the Government pursuant to Decision No. 280/TTg dated April 29, 1997 of the Prime Minister.

The technical infrastructure established by the above four projects over the past period has laid the foundation for the work of informationizing management and operation in administrative agencies nationwide; promoting the formation of information systems and electronic data repositories serving the guidance and operation of the Government, the Prime Minister, and local authorities at all levels.

According to the Government's working regulations promulgated together with Decree No. 11/CP dated January 24, 1998 of the Government, starting from 1998, the Government assigned the Government Office to uniformly manage the wide-area computer network of the Government; in other words, to uniformly direct the work of administrative management informationization within the scope of the Government, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and local authorities at all levels.

To be synchronized with the Program on Administrative Reform of the State for the period 2001-2010, the Prime Minister decides to approve the overall project on administrative management informationization for the period 2001-2005 with the following main contents and assigns the Government Office to take the lead and coordinate with ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and local authorities at all levels to implement it:

I. FOUNDATION FOR THE PROJECT ON INFORMATIONIZATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT OF THE STATE FOR THE PERIOD 2001-2005

The project on administrative management informationization of the State for the period 2001-2005 is based on the following foundations:

1. Resolution No. 49/CP dated August 4, 1993 of the Government on developing information technology in Vietnam during the 1990s and Decision No. 211/TTg dated April 7, 1995 of the Prime Minister have identified state management as the top priority area for applying information technology, according to which, the Government decided to initially invest in the program on informationizing state management within the framework of the national program on information technology for the period 1996-1998, including the project on investing in the wide-area computer network of the Government (investment results will be reflected in the subsequent section).

2. Directive No. 58/CT-TW dated October 17, 2000 of the Politburo of the 8th Central Committee sets forth the task of applying information technology to Party and state agencies in the period 2001-2005 as follows: "Party and state agencies, political-social organizations shall take the lead in implementing the application of information technology in all activities according to the principle of ensuring economy, practicality, and long-term effectiveness. Informationizing the operations of Party and state agencies is an important organic part of national administrative reform, a regular task of agencies aimed at enhancing management capacity, improving productivity, quality, and efficiency. Party committees and Party organizations at all levels shall promptly build necessary information systems to serve public interests, Party leadership, and state management. Promptly complete, regularly upgrade, and effectively utilize the wide-area information networks of the Party and Government. Ensure that by 2005, the basic construction and operation of the Party and Government's electronic information systems are completed."

3. The Government's decision on signing the E-ASEAN Framework Agreement (Electronic ASEAN) at the Informal Summit Meeting in Singapore on April 24, 2000, wherein, according to Article 3 and Article 9, Vietnam commits to implementing the goal of building an e-Government.

The Program on Administrative Reform of the State for the period 2001-2010 has set the goal of modernizing the state administrative system, according to which, by 2010, a unified wide-area computer network of the Government will be built and put into operation with two phases: 2001-2005 and 2006-2010.

II. SOME OVERALL ASSESSMENTS OF THE SITUATION OF INFORMATIONIZATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT OF THE STATE IN THE RECENT PERIOD

1. In 1990, the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers approved the project on applying computers and telecommunications technology at the Government Office (Notification No. 1265/TH dated April 24, 1990 of the Government Office announcing the Decision of the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers).

The mission of the project is to computerize the management information system at the Government Office, while also supporting part of the equipment, technology, and training for staff for ten ministries, ten key provinces, preparing conditions for building local computer networks in ministries and localities, moving towards forming a wide-area network connecting all ministries, sectors, and localities.

By the end of 1993, the Government Office had established a local area network (LAN) and initially applied modern information technology to the guidance and management work of the Prime Minister, linking information with some ministries and provincial people's committees in key provinces.

Although the application of computing at the Government Office in the early stage was still rudimentary, with new technologies being applied, it received the attention and direction of the Prime Minister, laying the foundation for the computerization of administrative management at the Government Office, which served as the basis for the computerization of management and operation in administrative agencies nationwide.

2. After promulgating Resolution No. 49/CP on the development of information technology (8/1993), the Prime Minister approved the five-year plan (1995-2000) to implement the National Program on Information Technology. During the period from 1996 to 1998, the program focused about 50% of its budget (160 billion VND) on the goal of computerizing the national management information system. Initially, the technical infrastructure for the computerization of national management and the application of information technology in specialized management activities was built.

On this technical infrastructure, administrative agencies gradually implemented information systems and electronic data repositories serving the management and operational work of the Prime Minister, ministries, sectors, and various levels of government agencies.

To date, local area computer networks have been established in 61 centrally governed cities and provinces and in almost all ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and agencies under the Government. This system includes operational information systems, file management systems, and data repositories serving research and decision-making processes.

The Government's wide-area network was set up to link the central networks of 61 cities and provinces and nearly 40 key agencies of the Government, covering 2,500 workstations, 180 servers across the country, and 50 different applications. With the Government's wide-area network, administrative agencies have been able to transmit and receive multi-dimensional information, including legal document systems, regular and ad hoc reporting systems, and electronic mail, ensuring speed, security, and effectively supporting the guidance and management work of administrative agencies.

Along with the establishment of the Government's wide-area network, six National Data Centers were implemented, including: the National Financial Data Center, the National Economic and Social Statistics Data Center, the National Legal Data Center, the National Land Resources Data Center, and the National Population Data Center. By the end of 1999, these National Data Center projects had completed feasibility studies. Among them, the National Financial and Statistical Data Centers had provided useful data for the guidance and management work of the Government.

Training in computing has been carried out concurrently with the construction of computer systems in administrative agencies. Tens of thousands of specialists and officials have been trained through basic computing courses and have been able to use computers at various levels in their professional work; particularly, a relatively large proportion of them have effectively used computing tools to access and exchange information over the network, serving research well to complete assigned tasks.

In late 1997, Vietnam joined the Internet. Much of the information obtained from the Internet has significantly contributed to providing information and materials, helping the Government, the Prime Minister, and other state agencies in policy planning.

3. However, compared to the goals of computerizing the management information system set forth in Resolution No. 49/CP dated August 5, 1993, the actual achievements remain modest.

The main reasons for this situation are that various levels, sectors, and localities have not fully recognized the role of information technology in guidance and management; they have not combined the application of information technology with administrative reform and the innovation of leadership and management methods; specifically manifested as follows:

- Regarding macro-management: The National Program on Information Technology was funded from 1996 and ended at the beginning of 1998 with a total budget of 280 billion VND, of which the task of computerizing administrative agencies was allocated approximately 160 billion VND. In this context, many major items approved by the Prime Minister in the overall plan have not been implemented.

The projects to computerize administrative management of ministries and provincial people's committees have only partially been implemented. The investment of 160 billion VND for three years from 1996 to 1998 only met 20-25% of the funding needs of the approved projects of 100 central and provincial administrative agencies.

According to a survey by the Government Office, most of the computerization projects were halted; some agencies with the ability to continue investing in computerized management objectives developed along separate technological paths; other agencies waited for the unified development policy of the Government. National data centers have only received about 10% of the required investment (30 billion VND). Therefore, national data centers have only reached the stage of completing feasibility studies and pilot implementation, waiting for additional funding to continue implementing the projects.

- Fragmentation of information occurs.Many ministries and sectors regard their management information as sector-specific information rather than national assets, and they do not provide comprehensive data for other agencies to have sufficient information for policy planning and decision-making. Many officials at central and local levels within the state machinery have the habit of accumulating private information, so when they have information within their scope of responsibility, they do not update it onto the computer network for common use.

- Data on the computer network: The technical infrastructure system of information technology has been built to a certain level, allowing for multi-dimensional information transmission and reception. There is a lot of information generated during administrative management activities, but electronic information accumulation is still at a low level; only basic types of information have been accumulated on the network so far. The main reason here is that all levels and sectors have not firmly linked the application of information technology with daily work processing, have not strictly enforced administrative discipline in updating electronic information, and have not sufficiently reformed administration to incorporate the information technology application system into the operation mechanism of the state administrative apparatus.

- Regarding organizational structure: Up to now, there has been no general regulation regarding the position, functions, and tasks of units responsible for administrative management informatization projects within the administrative agency system; even there are no civil service positions or titles for IT staff. Due to this, administrative agencies have not attracted skilled technical experts, thus limiting the absorption and transfer of technology, and the guidance and implementation of IT application projects; principles of open systems, common standards for technology and information are not closely monitored.

- Regarding financial mechanisms: Since 1998, funding for administrative management informatization has shifted to regular budget spending, therefore ministries, sectors, and localities do not have enough funds to complete informatization projects, cannot continue implementing basic applications in management and operation. The technical infrastructure of many administrative agencies' information technology is basically still in the condition of 1998.

Due to excessively high communication fees, ministries and sectors accessing the government's wide area network have had to spend tens of millions of dong per month for the north-south communication trunk. Local People's Committee offices also have to spend millions of dong per month for wide area network operations. Meanwhile, the regular budget of administrative agencies is limited, leading to many ministries, sectors, and local People's Committees having to limit the use of networks due to high communication costs. This has limited the effectiveness of using the computer network and the efficiency of administrative management.

- Regarding skills in using the computer networkin the regular work of civil servants: although trained, officials and civil servants are not yet truly accustomed to working on computers (updating, coordinating processing...), mainly handling documents and exploiting existing data on the network.

From the practical implementation of the National Information Technology Program in the years 1996-1998, based on evaluating achievements and shortcomings, the following lessons can be drawn:

First: Administrative management informatization is a complex task based on advanced technology and related to the functions, tasks, organizational structures, and authorities of administrative agencies, to the process of administrative reform, requiring high consistency throughout the entire administrative system. Therefore, a specialized IT department must be established to take unified responsibility for informatization coordination.

Second: Informatization of the national management information system cannot be considered a simple service task, but rather a process of creating electronic information data to enhance the effectiveness of management work, the key to administrative reform. The informatization process has just begun and will continue for many years, so it cannot be classified as a regular administrative task and accordingly, funding regulations should not be applied as for regular administrative tasks.

Third: Investment in administrative management informatization is still too little compared to investment in industry-specific IT systems such as banking, finance, aviation, etc. Therefore, investment must be adequate to ensure the system operates in a coordinated manner.

Fourth: Emphasize training in IT for cadres and civil servants in administrative agencies. No matter how well the technological system is built, it cannot operate effectively if the cadres, civil servants, and people working in the administrative system do not know how to operate computers and do not have computer operation discipline.

Fifth: Emphasize the construction of data repositories, especially national and specialized territorial data repositories; establish an IT management mechanism to strengthen supervision and inspection of the implementation of informatization plans as part of economic and social development plans.

Sixth: Organizational measures and personnel policies for IT units in administrative agencies must be implemented according to a unified regulation, because without a unified organization, a unified system cannot be established.

III. CONTENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT INFORMATIZATION FOR THE PERIOD 2001-2005

1. General objectives.

The project is developed based on the general objectives stated in Directive No. 58-CT/TW dated October 17, 2000 of the Politburo, which is: "by 2005, the basic construction and operation of the Party and Government's electronic information system" should be achieved to enhance the effectiveness of the Government, Prime Minister, leadership of Ministries, agencies equivalent to Ministries, agencies under the Government, and local authorities at all levels.

Within the framework of this project, these general objectives are reflected in various aspects:

- Establishing information systems to serve the management of administrative state agencies; by the end of 2005, put the Government's electronic information system into operation.

- Closely align with the objectives of the State Administrative Reform Program, vigorously promote the modernization of administrative technology, implement computerization of processes serving the public in public service areas, enhance the capacity of administrative state agencies in providing public services to the people and businesses conveniently, quickly, and at high quality.

- Train computer skills for civil servants, create the ability to access and use new technologies in regular work, aiming to meet high requirements for efficiency and quality of work.

2. Specific objectives.

2.1. Building information systems for administrative management of the state, directly serving the guidance and management work within the system of administrative state agencies. Complete and uniformly apply programs serving management and guidance (electronic mail, sending and receiving electronic documents, managing work files, managing personnel, etc.).

2.2. Organize the construction and integration of national databases, primarily in key Ministries and sectors (including six existing national databases): Planning and Investment, Banking, Trade, Customs, Labor, Justice, Education, Health... for common use.

2.3. Computerize public services to enhance the capacity of administrative state agencies in serving the public and businesses conveniently, quickly, and ensuring quality.

2.4. Training in computer science:普及公职人员、专家和技术人员的信息化知识，确保县级及以上行政机关的领导和工作人员具备使用计算机和网络处理日常工作的能力，符合其职能和任务。

2.5. Promote administrative reform procedures in various fields of state management, reform organizational structures and working styles in administrative state agencies within the scope of the Government's authority based on linking the goal of administrative management informatization with the Government's administrative reform program.

3. Scope and objects of informatization of the project include:

3.1. Information systems serving the management and guidance of the Government, Prime Minister, Ministers, Heads of Ministries equivalent to Ministries, Heads of government agencies, Chairmen of provincial People's Committees and centrally-administered city People's Committees.

3.2. Guidance and management work of the Government, Prime Minister, and leaders at all levels in central and local areas.

3.3. Activities of providing public services by administrative state agencies to the public and businesses.

4. Groups of target projects.

Group 1 Project. Informatization of administrative management of the state of Ministries, Ministries equivalent to Ministries, and government agencies:

Each Ministry and sector needs to build an information system within the scope of its functions, duties, and authority to serve the guidance and management work of the Prime Minister, Ministers, and Heads of Ministries equivalent to Ministries and government agencies.

In 2001, continue to develop the results of informatization from 1996 to 2000, complete the technical infrastructure network, put the program for managing work files and electronic mail into operation, ensuring that all officials and specialists can exchange information on the network and access the Government's electronic information page.

Implement standardization of information within their management area, coordinate with the Government Office, General Statistics Office, and the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment to promulgate information and technology standards in administrative management informatization.

In 2002-2003, establish a data integration center for each Ministry; based on the wide-area network of the Government, expand the Ministry's information network to provincial People's Committees to serve the professional guidance of the Ministry to Departments, Bureaus, and sectors; establish a Ministry's electronic information page to serve the decision-making process; simultaneously share common information with other administrative state agencies.

In 2004-2005, continue to expand and improve the quality of specialized data repositories, introduce decision-support tools into electronic data repositories.

For Ministries and sectors tasked with implementing types of public services such as registration, management, issuance of licenses, etc., need to develop separate projects to informatize public services to improve the quality of service to the public and businesses.

Group 2 Project. Informatization of administrative management of the state of provincial and centrally-administered city People's Committees:

Each province and centrally-administered city needs to build an information system to serve the guidance and management work of the Chairmen of provincial and centrally-administered city People's Committees.

In 2001, continue to develop the results of informatization from 1996 to 2000, complete the technical infrastructure network, put the program for managing work files and electronic mail into operation, ensuring that all officials and specialists can exchange information on the provincial information network and access the Government's electronic information page;

In 2002-2003, establish a data integration center for provincial People's Committees, connect departments, districts, and counties with the provincial administrative management information network center; depending on capability and conditions, gradually expand to grassroots-level administrative units. By the end of 2003, a provincial economic and social data center must be formed.

In 2004-2005, continue to improve and expand the information and technology infrastructure of the previous stage, gradually informatize processes serving the public in management areas such as housing, construction, business registration, etc., allowing citizens to participate more directly in exchanging and receiving information from the system of administrative state agencies.

By the end of 2004, informatize some public services: land use right certificates, property ownership certificates, construction permits, business registration, population management, guarantee transactions, etc.

Group 3 Project: Building national database systems and specialized database systems to serve informatization of management and guidance.

The national database is a set of information repositories serving management and operation activities of the Government, ensuring the rapid and timely provision of necessary information on economy, culture, society, supporting state agencies in issuing management and operational decisions. During the period from 1996 to 1998, the State invested in six national databases and assigned them to six leading agencies. For the period from 2001 to 2005, it is necessary to continue implementing feasible projects of approved national databases and some new national databases, including:

- National database on economy and society,

- National database on legal normative texts system,

- National database on civil servants,

- National database on population,

- National database on land resources,

- National database on finance,

- Database on import and export information,

- Database on secured transactions.

The above national databases, in addition to their function of serving state management and operational activities, need to be exploited (according to necessary regulations and convenient protocols) for enterprises and citizens, aiming to serve production activities, research, cultural and social development.

Other Ministries and sectors shall base on their functions and tasks to build specialized databases and integrate them onto the wide-area network of the Government, forming a national information resource.

In 2001, those Ministries and sectors leading the Projects to build National Databases that were implemented earlier need to complete technical infrastructure, focusing on building information data, to serve the information exploitation needs of administrative agencies within the state system.

From 2002 to 2005, the focus will be on the task of building databases and integrating databases on the wide-area network of the Government.

Group 4 Project. Training of administrative civil servants.

From 2001 to 2005, Ministries, sectors, and local People's Committees must ensure that the majority of cadres and civil servants are trained in information technology, mastering skills to work on computer networks; priority should be given to cadres and specialists directly working on creating information data on computer networks.

The Office of the Government shall develop a training program for civil servants working in an IT environment; train a team of IT engineers in administrative agencies, ensuring their level is updated with the pace of high-tech development, capable of analyzing systems and effectively managing and implementing information management systems.

Group 5 Project. Upgrading the wide-area network of the Government (CPNET), ensuring its role as the main communication backbone in the administrative agencies' IT system.

The wide-area network of the Government serves as the communication backbone for administrative agencies, connecting the IT networks of Ministries, sectors, and localities, serving the guidance and operational activities of the Prime Minister, Ministers, and Chairmen of provincial People's Committees.

In 2001-2002, expand the wide-area network of the Government, upgrade data transmission links connecting to Ministries, sectors, Provincial People's Council Offices, and provincial-level People's Committees, establish an electronic mail system serving guidance, operational activities, and information exchange needs for administrative agencies participating in the wide-area network of the Government.

In 2002-2003, construct a government-wide data integration center; ensure this center has the capability to integrate data centers of Ministries and provincial-level People's Committees; test the video conference model for meetings and conferences.

In 2004-2005, complete the wide-area network of the Government, integrate it with the wide-area network of the Party; ensure the ability to serve communications for a large number of administrative agencies and Party organizations accessing the network.

The Office of the Government shall lead the construction and development of the Government's wide-area network.

Group 6 Project. Building a system to ensure security and confidentiality for the Government's administrative management IT network in administrative agencies.

In 2001-2002, develop a project to ensure security and confidentiality for the IT network of administrative agencies, ensuring the authenticity in the exchange of electronic documents and digital signatures.

In 2003-2005, implement the information security system, prepare conditions for the high-reliability operation of the Party and Government's electronic information systems.

The Government Cryptographic Department shall cooperate with the Office of the Government to develop and implement the project to ensure security and confidentiality for the Government's electronic information system.

IV. INVESTMENT (PERIOD 2001-2005)

1. Requirements for the architecture of the administrative management IT system:

The system consists of independent information data components of Ministries, agencies at the same level as Ministries, and agencies under the Government (hereinafter referred to as Ministries) and provincial People's Committees (hereinafter referred to as provinces). Components of the system have horizontal and vertical relationships.

Horizontal relationship is the exchange and sharing of specialized information among sectors.

Vertical relationship mainly depends on the hierarchical structure of authority and functional management within the administrative agency system.

To meet information requirements for management tasks in each organizational system, IT implementation must start right from Ministries, agencies at the same level as Ministries, agencies under the Government, and provincial People's Committees. At the highest level of each system (Ministries, provinces), a data integration center within the scope of responsibility will be formed. This center is not a place for updating and storing operational data but a place linking operational databases of units within each system. The center has the function of providing shared information, transmitting management commands through legal normative texts and administrative documents issued by competent administrative levels.

Each system's data integration center interacts with other system's data integration centers horizontally through the Government's data integration center.

Accordingly, the Data Integration Centers will be established at the following levels:

a) National level: The Data Integration Center shall be located at the Government's wide area network center (Government Office);

b) Ministry level: The Data Integration Center shall be located at Ministries, agencies equivalent to ministries, and government agencies;

c) Provincial level: The Data Integration Center shall be located at the People's Council and People's Committee Office of the province.

The national-level data integration center has the function of linking databases of Ministries, agencies equivalent to ministries, government agencies, provincial people's committees, sharing common information among these units, serving the directive and administrative work of the Prime Minister and national-level administrative agencies at the ministry and provincial levels. The national-level data integration center also provides a common communication infrastructure between Ministries, sectors, and provincial people's committees through the Government's wide area network.

The ministry-level data integration center links operational databases of the Ministry, including units under the business guidance of vertical sectors within local people's committees; provides and shares information among units within the Ministry and with other Ministries and provincial people's committees through the national-level data integration center.

The provincial-level data integration center has the function of linking operational databases of departments, bureaus, sectors, districts, towns, cities under the province, communes, wards within the province, sharing information to serve the directive and administrative work of the Chairman of the provincial people's committee and units within the province. The provincial-level data integration center also provides a common communication infrastructure between departments, bureaus, sectors, districts, towns, cities under the province, communes, wards through the provincial wide area network.

Based on the analysis of the administrative management information system above, priority investment will be given to data integration centers and horizontal connection support networks between Ministries and provincial people's committees.

2. The Government's Wide Area Network.

The Government's Wide Area Network was established according to Decision No. 280/TTg dated April 29, 1997, of the Prime Minister, designed and constructed according to the hierarchical structure of administrative state agencies and divided into several levels:

Level A: National level,

Level B: Ministry and provincial level,

Level C: Department, bureau, sector, district, town or Bureau, unit directly under the Ministry,

Level D: Commune, ward.

At Levels A and B, data integration centers will be formed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diagram of the levels of the Government's Wide Area Network

Administrative units at the ministry and provincial levels will connect with each other through the Government's Wide Area Network via the network center located at the Government Office.

Provincial administrative units will connect with each other through the provincial wide area network center located at the People's Council and People's Committee Office of the province.

Units directly under the Ministry; Departments, bureaus, sectors directly under the province will connect with the Ministry through the provincial wide area network and the Government's wide area network (illustrated in the diagram below).

CPNET

 

 

Diagram of the connection between Departments, Bureaus, Sectors with Ministries, Sectors through CPNET.

The Government's Wide Area Network (referred to as CPNET) has been designed according to the common architecture of the administrative management information system, including:

- A north-south communication trunk with a speed of 64 KB using X25 technology,

- 35 ISDN lines connecting 35 Ministries with the Government Office,

- Connecting 61 People's Council and People's Committee Offices of provinces to the CPNET network; many provincial people's committees have expanded the Government's network down to departments, bureaus, districts, towns, communes, and wards.

Thus, CPNET has become the technical infrastructure for the administrative management information system during the new investment phase.

3. Investment Budget.

3.1. Investment Requirements:

- Investments in building the administrative management information system must adhere to the principle of prioritizing the construction of information and data; computer tools are important means to achieve this goal. Before making investment decisions, it is necessary to clearly define: what information and data are, how much information needs to be managed, who manages it and how, the purpose of service and the readiness level of participating administrative agencies; the degree of integration of the information system being computerized with the administrative reform process of the unit; only purchase and install equipment systems after clearly defining the work objectives and the amount of information needed to be built.

- Implementing the computerization of administrative agencies must follow the principle of uniformity in network technology (according to the standards of the Government's wide area network) and common applications in administrative agencies according to the professional guidance of the Government Office. Pilot implementation should be carried out first in some Ministries and provincial people's committees to provide technological solutions and common programs for the entire system of administrative agencies.

- Building the information system must ensure the sharing and unified integration of information resources on the network of Ministries, provinces, and the Government's wide area network, avoiding isolated information silos.

- Investment in expanding the network should depend on the availability of personnel capable of operating computers, the need to exploit and generate information for management and operation.

- Investment must be carried out with the spirit of thrift, maximizing the use of equipment, techniques, and information resources that have already been invested and constructed in previous phases.

3.2. Hierarchical Investment.

National Level:

The Government invests in key items such as:

- The national data integration center, national databases, communication trunks, data transmission lines from the national data integration center to the data integration centers of Ministries and provinces.

- Investing in basic items of the Computerization Project of Ministries and provincial people's committees to unify technology and application programs.

Ministry and Provincial Level:

Ministries, sectors, and local people's committees shall invest in expanding the network center and other databases according to their financial capacity, staff, and the scale of each agency's information system.

Invest in expanding the informatization of public administrative services based on the initial investment by the Government.

3.3. Budget.

- The total budget for the Project will be compiled from the budgets of the informatization management projects of ministries, agencies at the level of ministries, government agencies, and provincial people's committees under the central government.

- Specifically, the portion of the central budget invested in the main components of the system, including national data centers at the government, ministry, and provincial levels; national databases; the main communication trunk of the government's wide area network, and some other basic components, is estimated to be not less than 1 trillion VND for the period 2001-2005.

V. IMPLEMENTATION

1. Informatization of administrative management must be organized synchronously within state administrative agencies; it should rely on the existing administrative machinery of ministries and provinces to implement the project. The organization will be divided into the following levels:

a) General guidance:

The Office of the Government shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant agencies:

- Organize the coordination, guidance for the construction and implementation of informatization management projects in ministries, sectors, and provincial people's committees.

- Coordinate inter-ministerial and inter-provincial administrative management informatization projects.

- Determine the national administrative information standards.

- Establish a security system for the administrative network.

- Integrate national databases, including those belonging to national target programs, onto the government's wide area network to provide information to state administrative agencies and other research entities.

- Take the lead in drafting, submitting, and promulgating legal documents to ensure legal grounds for the exchange and exploitation of electronic information on the government's wide area network.

b) Ministry level:

- Analyze the informatization needs of the ministry, develop the ministry's administrative management informatization project.

- Supervise and inspect the implementation of informatization projects within the ministry's scope.

- Build and store electronic information within its jurisdiction.

- Apply information standards and protect information.

c) Provincial level: the provincial people's committee is the leading investor; the provincial People's Council and People's Committee Office is the investor responsible for:

- Analyze the informatization needs of the province, develop the province's administrative management informatization project.

- Supervise and inspect the implementation of informatization projects within the province.

- Build and store electronic information within its jurisdiction.

- Apply information standards and protect information.

- Proactively coordinate with national target programs in the same locality to implement the province's administrative management informatization project efficiently and economically.

2. Regarding organizational structure.

2.1. Improve the organization of information units in state administrative agencies:

- Ministries and sectors must establish an information center under the ministry to lead the development and implementation of the administrative management informatization project, serving the management and operation of the Minister.

- Provincial and centrally-administered city people's committees must establish an information center under the provincial People's Council and People's Committee Office to lead the development and implementation of the administrative management informatization project, serving the management and operation of the provincial People's Committee Chairman.

2.2. Establish a Steering Committee for the Administrative Management Informatization Project for the 2001-2005 period, led by the Office of the Government, with the participation of representatives from the following agencies:

- Government Organization and Cadre Affairs Board,

- Ministry of Planning and Investment,

- Ministry of Finance,

- Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment,

The Steering Committee is responsible to the Prime Minister for organizing and implementing the Administrative Management Informatization Project for the 2001-2005 period approved by the Prime Minister.

3. Policies and measures for implementation:

a) Creating information sources and standardizing information.

The Office of the Government shall take the lead, together with the General Statistics Office, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment, to issue regulations on information standards for operational activities. Ministries and sectors shall announce specialized information standards.

There shall be policies to encourage the creation of information sources and the establishment of electronic database repositories.

b) Information exchange and confidentiality.

- The Office of the Government shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Justice to draft and promulgate legal documents for the exploitation and exchange of electronic information between state administrative agencies, between the state and businesses and citizens, and internationally; while ensuring ownership rights and confidentiality of information for the state, economic and social organizations, and individuals.

c) Support policies and mobilization of capital for the expansion of the administrative information system.

The State encourages all economic sectors to invest in applying information technology to build and expand the state's informatization system. Service fees for public administrative services shall be collected to reinvest in the system. Encouragement is given to investments in informatization to provide and disseminate legal, economic, and social information, as well as information about the operations of state administrative agencies, to the public.

d) Policies on the use of telecommunications networks for data transmission.

The State has preferential telecommunications rates for management and operational activities in state administrative agencies and for disseminating legal information to the public and businesses.

e) Policies on purchasing information technology products and services.

All procurement plans for administrative management informatization must go through bidding and contracts in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Government. Bidding and procurement can be centralized to reduce costs and prices of purchased products and services, while ensuring the correct selection of technology and quality.

4. Implementation schedule:

4.1. Preparation phase (2001):

From August 2001 to December 2001, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated agencies, provincial people's committees, and centrally governed city people's committees shall develop their own administrative information management modernization projects in accordance with the guidelines of the Government Office for submission to the competent authority for review and approval before December 2001.

The Government Office and the Ministry of Finance need to provide specific guidance on technology and finance to enable ministries, sectors, and localities to develop highly feasible projects.

4.2. Implementation phase:

Starting from January 2002, implementation of the administrative information management modernization project shall begin. Ministries, sectors, and provincial people's committees shall base their implementation of information management modernization activities on approved projects.

Responsibilities of ministries and sectors:

The implementation of the project, monitoring, urging, guiding, and inspecting the implementation of assigned projects shall be carried out as follows:

5.1. The Government Office:

- Uniformly manage the field of administrative information management modernization nationwide; organize guidance, inspection of ministries, sectors, and local people's committees in implementing information management modernization projects;

- Coordinate with the General Statistics Office, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment to submit to the Prime Minister for issuance of regulations standardizing types of information for important state management and operational activities;

- Aggregate the implementation status of administrative information management modernization projects of ministries, sectors, and localities to report quarterly to the Prime Minister;

- Coordinate with the Central Party Committee Office to effectively utilize the wide-area computer network of the Party and the Government.

5.2. The Ministry of Planning and Investment:

- Take the lead, coordinate with the Government Office and the Ministry of Finance to incorporate the administrative information management modernization project for the period 2001-2005 into the annual national plan to ensure the basis for project implementation.

5.3. The Ministry of Finance:

- Take the lead, coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Government Office to allocate the state budget for administrative information management modernization within the total state budget estimate for submission to the Government for consideration and decision;

- Allocate annual funding for each approved project; guide and inspect financial matters in project implementation; aggregate annual funding allocation for each project and approve final accounts of completed projects, reporting to the Prime Minister.

5.4. The Government Organizational and Cadre Affairs Commission:

- Issue regulations on organizing specialized information units to serve administrative information management modernization work; specify standards and positions for information officers working in administrative agencies.

- Coordinate generally to link the implementation of administrative information management modernization projects with the Government's administrative reform program for the period 2001-2010.