8 solutions to help countries move towards a comprehensive digital government

Digital inclusion refers to the activities required to ensure equitable access to and use of information and communications technologies to participate in economic and social life, including education, social services, health, social and community participation.

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The concept of digital inclusion encompasses many issues, including access to affordable devices and internet, digital literacy, and the availability of online resources and services. Without digital inclusion, individuals, communities, and even entire countries can be left behind in terms of economic opportunity, education, and social connection.

Despite the efforts of countries around the world, digital inclusion remains a significant challenge. It is a complex issue that requires collaboration and cooperation between government organizations and the private sector.

Data from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) shows that the average global internet penetration rate is 66%, corresponding to 5.3 billion people in 2022, while the remaining 34%, corresponding to 2.7 billion people, still do not have access to the Internet.

Among them, European countries, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Americas have the highest rate of people accessing the Internet, from 80 to 90%. Next are Arab countries and the Asia-Pacific region with the rate of people accessing the Internet of 70% and 64% respectively, while the African region has only 40% of the population accessing the Internet.

In particular, for the least developed countries in the world, the percentage of the population with access to the Internet is only 36%.

Here are eight solutions for countries to bridge the digital divide and move towards a comprehensive digital government.

1. Narrow the economic gap by increasing access to digital devices and affordable internet.Countries need to have policies that provide financial support to low-income and socially disadvantaged communities to ease the economic burden, which can help close the digital divide and ensure that everyone has equal access to the benefits of the digital economy.

2. Continue to encourage people to participate in digital literacy programs.Making the Internet accessible to all, especially those in disadvantaged areas, is difficult enough, but making them aware of how to use digital devices and services safely is even more difficult, especially in less developed countries and for older users.

Therefore, countries need to have appropriate policies as well as allocate financial resources to train and encourage people to participate in digital literacy programs, thereby not only promoting people's access to digital platforms but also helping them have full digital knowledge.

3. Encourage public-private partnership (PPP).Public-private partnership is one of the methods of mobilizing the participation of the private sector in the implementation of public tasks that has been widely applied in practice in many countries around the world and in the region, bringing many successes in different fields. This is a form of cooperation that is expected to bring benefits to both the State and the people because it takes advantage of financial resources and management capacity from the private sector, better controls the use of public resources of the State while still ensuring benefits for the people and society.

4. Promote an inclusive and accessible digital environment.To promote an inclusive and accessible digital environment, it is important that countries have policies in place to ensure that digital services are accessible to all communities, especially people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups in society. This requires countries to develop technology applications such as text-to-speech capabilities, language processing support, and other assistive technologies.

5. Invest in infrastructure and technology.Countries need to have policies to invest, upgrade and expand infrastructure to improve connectivity and access to digital services, so that people in rural and remote areas can enjoy digital services on par with people in urban areas.

6. Promote entrepreneurship in the digital technology sector.Countries need to enact policies to encourage entrepreneurship and stimulate the creativity of entrepreneurs in the technology sector. Provide grants to create strong digital businesses to create new digital products and new customer segments.

7. Consolidate e-government and digital services.User experience is considered a key factor that can make or break a tech startup, and the same is true for digital government services. Therefore, governments need to increase their investment in initiatives to ensure a unified experience across digital and physical platforms.

8. Strengthening trust through personal data protection and data security. Protecting personal data in the digital environment in general and in the platforms for interaction between the government and the people in particular will help strengthen people's trust and encourage them to participate in the digital transformation process. Good practice in protecting citizens' personal data in the public sector is one of the key factors to build people's trust in online public services.

Countries should regularly assess the implementation of people's personal data rights on local government-citizen interaction platforms; and add personal data protection assessment criteria to the Digital Transformation Index at all levels. Authorities should develop national guidelines on personal data protection in the public sector and issue model regulations on privacy policies for online platforms.

For Vietnam, to move towards a digital government, on June 15, 2021, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 942/QD-TTg approving the e-Government development strategy towards digital government for the 2021-2025 period, with a vision to 2030. Accordingly, the Strategy has determined: "Developing digital government in a comprehensive and comprehensive manner, promoting achieved results, focusing resources, mobilizing the participation of the entire political system, having breakthrough solutions and approaches, with a different character, to basically complete the e-Government development targets by 2021 and forming a digital government by 2025".

Digital Government is a Government that “has all operations safely in the digital environment, has a redesigned operating model and operates based on digital data and technology, to be able to provide better quality services, make more timely decisions, issue better policies, use resources more optimally, create development, lead national digital transformation, and effectively solve major problems in socio-economic development and management”.

The 13th National Congress documents also emphasized: “Promoting the construction of e-Government, moving towards digital Government, focusing on developing digital infrastructure to serve State agencies in a centralized and seamless manner; synchronously designing, building and putting into operation an integrated system, connecting large databases, especially data on population, health, education, etc. Strive to complete the construction of digital Government by 2030; ranking in the top 50 countries in the world and 3rd in the ASEAN region in e-Government and digital economy”.

In short, increasing the application of information technology to contribute to the development of e-Government, towards digital Government is an inevitable trend of countries around the world. Therefore, in the coming time, policy makers must implement specific solutions to narrow the digital gap and ensure digital inclusion for all citizens. By doing so, we can create a fairer, more prosperous and sustainable society where no one is left behind./.