Circular No. 24/2011/TT-BTTTT on the establishment, use, and storage of metadata on electronic information pages or government information portals

CIRCULAR

Provisions on the creation, use, and storage of metadata on electronic information pages or government portals

On electronic information pages or government portals of state agencies

______________________

MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

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;

BASED ON THE GOVERNMENT DECREE NO. 187/2007/NĐ-CP OF DECEMBER 25, 2007 ON THE FUNCTIONS, TASKS, POWERS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS;

Pursuant to Decree No. 43/2011/NĐ-CP dated June 13, 2011 of the Government on providing information and online public services on electronic information pages or government portals of state agencies;

At the proposal of the Director of the Department of Information Technology Application,

c) Enterprises may be granted permission for no more than one block out of the total three dual-frequency blocks (FDD) B

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular stipulates the creation, use, and storage of metadata on electronic information pages or government portals of state agencies (hereinafter referred to collectively as government portals).

Article 2. Applicability

Article 1. This Circular applies to Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, agencies under the Government, General Departments, Bureaus, and equivalent agencies; Provincial People's Committees, municipal people's committees directly under the central government, and their affiliated specialized agencies; People's Committees of districts, towns, provincial cities (hereinafter referred to as managing agencies).

Article 2. It is encouraged for agencies and organizations not falling within the scope of application mentioned above to apply and implement the provisions of this Circular appropriately.

Article 3. Explanation of Terms

In this Circular, the following terms are understood as follows:

1. Metadata are information describing the characteristics of data such as content, format, quality, conditions, and other characteristics to facilitate the process of searching, accessing, managing, and storing data.

2. Dublin Core Metadata Standard is a set including 15 basic metadata elements used to describe resources.

3. Metadata element is an attribute used to describe an information resource. Each metadata element may have one or more sub-elements. Each metadata element is determined by two main attributes, namely name and content.

4. Sub-element of metadata is an element used in conjunction with a metadata element to provide a more detailed description of the information resource.

5. Content of metadata is the value assigned to each element or sub-element of metadata.

6. Syntax of metadata is the rule creating structured fields or elements of metadata, represented through various markup languages or programming languages.

7. Descriptive metadata is metadata describing documents for detection and identification.

8. Metadata repository is a database storing metadata to ensure consistency, reliability, and availability of accessed information.

Chapter II

METADATA

Article 4. Metadata elements

Metadata elements used according to the Dublin Core standard are as follows:

Clause 1. Mandatory elements to be used include: title, creator, date, description, issuing agency, and identifier.

Clause 2. Recommended elements to be used (should be used): language, source, contributor, and subject.

Clause 3. Optional elements (used optionally for additional information): coverage, type, format, relation, and rights.

Metadata elements are explained in detail in Appendix I of this Circular.

Article 5. Provisions on the content attribute of metadata elements

Clause 1. Must not be left blank for mandatory metadata elements as prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 4 of this Circular.

Clause 2. Must be expressed in Vietnamese using the Vietnamese character set and encoding according to standard TCVN 6909:2001 for information items as prescribed in Article 6 of this Circular, and expressed in English for information items as prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 13 of Decree No. 43/2011/NĐ-CP of the Government on providing information and online public services on electronic information pages or government portals of state agencies.

Clause 3. Must be concise and meaningful, briefly describing the content of the information to be described.

Clause 4. Must be separated by a semicolon (;) when the content attribute has multiple values.

Chapter III

USE, CREATION, STORAGE, AND UPDATE OF METADATA

Article 6. Mandatory Use of Descriptive Data

1. Homepage of the electronic portal.

2. Information introducing the managing agency.

3. All news articles in the following sections:

a) News, events;

b) Directive and administrative information;

c) Propaganda, dissemination, and guidance on implementing laws, systems, and policies;

d) Strategies, orientations, planning, and development plans.

4. Information pages on:

a) Legal regulatory documents and administrative management documents;

b) Online public services;

c) Information of each issue of the electronic Gazette in the Gazette section;

d) Projects, investment items, bidding, and public procurement;

đ) Scientific programs and topics;

g) Electronic data storage for organizations and individuals;

g) Foreign language information as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 13 of Decree No. 43/2011/NĐ-CP of the Government on providing information and online public services on the electronic portal or electronic gateway of state agencies.

5. Encouraging the managing agency to create descriptive data for other information on the electronic portal.

Article 7. Creation of Descriptive Data

1. The managing agency is responsible for creating descriptive data for the information sections on the electronic portal as prescribed in Clauses 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Article 6 of this Circular. For descriptive data that describes the source of information, the creator of the information will be the person who creates the descriptive data.

2. The creation of descriptive data shall be carried out according to one of the following methods:

a) Directly embedding descriptive data in the code of each webpage according to the syntax described in Appendix II of this Circular;

b) Using tools that allow the creation of descriptive data integrated into the electronic portal system;

c) Using independent tools to automatically generate descriptive data for each webpage. In this case, the managing agency is responsible for ensuring the content of the descriptive data in accordance with Article 5 of this Circular.

Article 8. Storage of Descriptive Data

The managing agency selects one of the following two forms to store descriptive data:

1. Storing directly in the code of each webpage within the electronic portal system of the managing agency.

2. Using a descriptive data storage repository or database management system to store descriptive data according to the creation methods prescribed in points b and c of Clause 2 of Article 7 of this Circular.

Article 9. Updating Descriptive Data

1. When changing the content of information for sections using descriptive data, the managing agency is responsible for checking and updating the descriptive data if necessary. The checking and updating of descriptive data must be carried out immediately after the change in the content of the information.

2. For mandatory sections using descriptive data that were published on the electronic portal before the effective date of this Circular, it is encouraged that the managing agency supplements and updates descriptive data for these sections.

Article 10. Ensuring Access and Extraction of Descriptive Data

The managing agency is responsible for ensuring that descriptive data can be accessed and extracted to facilitate linking and integrating information with the electronic portals of other state agencies.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 11. Responsibilities of the Managing Authority

1. Implement the provisions of this Circular to ensure that descriptive data is established and updated fully.

2. Ensure machinery and equipment for the establishment and management of descriptive data; review, upgrade, and supplement tools for establishing and storing descriptive data for the electronic portal.

3. Ensure human resources and funding for the establishment, storage, and updating of descriptive data for the electronic portal.

Article 12. Responsibilities for Guidance on Implementation

1. The Department of Information Technology Application under the Ministry of Information and Communications shall be responsible for promoting, guiding, urging, and coordinating the implementation of the contents of this Circular; researching and proposing the use of unified tools to establish descriptive data and build a common repository for descriptive data for state agencies; annually evaluating and publishing the use of descriptive data on the electronic portals of state agencies.

2. Provincial Departments of Information and Communications under centrally governed cities shall be responsible for promoting, disseminating, and guiding the implementation of the contents of this Circular for state agencies at the local level.

3. Specialized units for information technology under Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and agencies under the Government shall be responsible for promoting, disseminating, and guiding the implementation of the provisions of this Circular for agencies and units under their respective Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and agencies under the Government.

Article 13. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from November 15, 2011.

2. Within four months from the date this Circular takes effect, the managing authority must meet the requirements stipulated in Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 11 of this Circular.

3. During the implementation process, if any issues arise or difficulties occur, relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals need to promptly reflect them to the Ministry of Information and Communications for consideration, supplementation, and amendment./.