Final episode: Overcoming 'bottlenecks'
Mountainous areas still face many difficulties in building a digital society and digital economy related to infrastructure and human resources. Therefore, to help mountainous localities access and apply digital technology, in addition to effectively applying the Party and State's policies and mechanisms, there needs to be synchronous participation to create motivation, gradually remove "bottlenecks", encourage and support digital transformation to become one of the development resources of mountainous areas.
Thanh Phuc - Hoai Thu • September 25, 2024
Mountainous areas still face many difficulties in building a digital society and digital economy related to infrastructure and human resources. Therefore, to help mountainous localities access and apply digital technology, in addition to effectively applying the Party and State's policies and mechanisms, there needs to be synchronous participation to create motivation, gradually remove "bottlenecks", encourage and support digital transformation to become one of the development resources of mountainous areas.
Entering the days of July, in the border district of Ky Son, before we rode the "war horse" for highland business trips, moving from Muong Xen town to Na Ngoi commune to carry out pre-arranged work contents, the staff of the People's Committee of Ky Son district advised: "At this time, there is often dense fog in the morning, and it often rains in the mid-afternoon and late at night. But the most feared are sudden storms, flash floods, and landslides, so you must be very careful". No longer remembering how many times we worked in the localities of Western Nghe An, we were quite familiar with the difficulties and deprivations of the people. In addition to the harshness of nature, weather, and terrain, the limitations of information technology are also quite a big barrier to development in all aspects.
For example, during the trip to Na Ngoi commune in early July 2024, a location more than 50km from Muong Xen town, we needed to meet with officials from Phu Quac 2 village and some remote villages of the commune. After many phone calls, Mr. Gia Ba Gio - Deputy Secretary of the Commune Party Committee said: “Currently, Phu Quac 2 village does not have a phone signal, so if you want to meet with officials from the village, you have to ask someone to contact you directly. Usually, you have to go to their house in the evening to meet them. During the day, officials and people are mostly on the fields. Whenever the Commune People's Committee has an official dispatch or invitation that needs to be sent to Phu Quac 2, they have to send someone to deliver it in person. As for urgent matters that require immediate contact, we are... "powerless".
Arriving at the Commune People's Committee, discussing with the professional staff, before going to the village, we needed information and data in the commune's reports, we sat with some people who were also waiting to do personal paperwork. Fidgeting in front of the computer screen for quite a while because the computer started slowly, the screen just lit up and then turned off, Mr. Lau Ba Cho - Vice Chairman of the Na Ngoi Commune People's Committee sighed: "The power went out again. Please be patient. This rainy season, the electricity is unstable and goes out several times a day, the computer is using an old one that is nearly ten years old so it runs very slowly. Now documents and papers are mainly done through the IOffice system, so even if you want to do it quickly, you can't do it."
Difficult transportation, harsh weather and natural disasters, and many villages and hamlets still without electricity or telephone signals are "bottlenecks" that have slowed down digital transformation in the highlands.
Talking about these shortcomings, Mr. Vo Trong Phu - Deputy Director of the Department of Information and Communications said: In the construction of digital government, by June 2024, most of Nghe An's communes have been covered by mobile waves to the commune center (digital infrastructure). However, the whole province still has more than 60 villages and hamlets without national grid electricity, so these villages and hamlets have not been covered by telephone and internet waves. In addition, many places, although having grid electricity and internet waves, the transmission quality is still unstable, with frequent disconnections due to geographical distance or transmission line problems.
However, infrastructure and technology “bottlenecks” are not the biggest obstacles to the speed and quality of digital transformation and the application of information technology in mountainous areas. The biggest “barrier” is the thinking and awareness of people, including both officials and people. We have come toCo Phat version, a small village of the Dan Lai people, located in the core area of Pu Mat National Park, Con Cuong district. The road from the center of Mon Son commune to Co Phat village is more than 20km long, mainly a slippery dirt road and passes through 6 bridges, including 1 suspension bridge and 5 temporary bamboo bridges across streams.
Mr. La Van Linh - Secretary of the Co Phat Party Cell said that the village has electricity, phone signal, and internet signal, but they cannot be used all the time. Because there are many places with no signal, no communication. If you want to read information or register for paperwork online, in addition to having a smartphone, you also have to find a place with "no signal, strong signal" to use it. Mr. La Van Linh added that in the village, most of the young people work far away, and the elderly at home do not use smartphones, so registering or updating paperwork information online is very limited. If there are procedures that need to be done, people have to go to the commune center, then ask the commune officials for guidance and help.
To read information or register for paperwork online, in addition to having a smartphone, you also need to find a place with "strong signal" to use it.
Mr. La Van Linh - Secretary of Co Phat Party Cell, Mon Son (Con Cuong)
Sharing about these limitations, an officer of the People's Committee office at the commune level in Anh Son district, when discussing this issue, admitted that there are still officers doing online administrative operations for people: Most young people, when we popularize applications and operations to perform online administrative procedures, they quickly grasp and perform them immediately. Young people recognize the advantages of digitalization in records and procedures. On the contrary, the elderly have limited ability to absorb and perform online operations.
In addition, many people do not use smartphones, so it is almost impossible to encourage them to apply digital technology. When receiving the government's dissemination of online administrative procedures, people have grasped them, but when practicing on the computer, they are very confused and waste a lot of time. They even make mistakes and have to correct them many times. During peak times when there are many people needing to process documents, instead of guiding people to do it correctly, officials sometimes do it for them.
Along with that, according to the staff of the People's Committee office at the commune level in many localities, the infrastructure and database of the digital government service system are still being upgraded and modified, so there are still limitations. For example, the civil status software system has not yet ensured data synchronization between the provincial administrative procedure settlement information system and the civil status registration and management information system; in some cases, it is not synchronized to the specialized civil status software. Currently, people have provided documents to update their level 2 electronic identification accounts, however, the synchronization of documents for people to use instead of original documents and papers in administrative and civil transactions is still slow. The process of digital transformation and submitting administrative procedure settlement dossiers online is still not complete. Some administrative procedures have been submitted online, but then paper documents still have to be submitted for comparison and storage, so citizens have not yet seen all the benefits of the online form.
Speaking more about the "bottlenecks" in digital transformation in mountainous localities, Mr. Vo Trong Phu emphasized that currently, departments, branches, and authorities at all levels in Nghe An have been accelerating implementation in pilot communes in 3 communes of Anh Son, Quy Hop, and Nghi Loc districts according to 3 pillars: digital government, digital economy, digital society. Initially, although the goals set out in the pilot implementation process have been achieved, there are still limitations and shortcomings in the implementation process such as: The development of e-commerce and bringing agricultural products to e-commerce platforms have not had clear results. Although smart education and healthcare services in communes have initially had results, the benefits brought to people by these services are not high.
The mountainous region with a large number of ethnic minorities is facing many difficulties in accessing information technology. Therefore, in order to improve the capacity to apply digital transformation and digital technology to develop the mountainous economy, it is necessary to overcome many difficulties and challenges. Ms. Phan Thi Thuy Dung, a judicial and civil status officer of the People's Committee of Khai Son Commune (Anh Son) said that up to now, many people still maintain the habit of submitting traditional administrative procedures. Therefore, in order for people to see the benefits and access online application submission methods, it takes time and effective propaganda methods to change awareness.
In addition to the need for strong leadership from leaders and officials at all levels, in mountainous areas with specific terrain, population, and ethnic minorities, access to information technology is still difficult. Most people in mountainous areas, especially middle-aged and elderly people, find it very difficult to access information technology. It is mainly young people who are more responsive. However, the elderly are the ones who hold the traditional development resources of the communities. Young people are limited in this regard.
In the development process, to apply information technology, the elderly must improve their capacity. If they cannot access it, they must rely on their children and grandchildren to help. Therefore, to apply information technology to economic development, there must be training programs to help people improve their capacity to access information technology, improve the capacity of cooperation between generations to work together to improve efficiency. When the human factor is supported and developed appropriately, investment in information technology infrastructure will be effective, only then can the digital transformation process and digital technology be effective, becoming an important factor for socio-economic development.
In Plan 1004/KH-UBND on digital transformation of Nghe An province in 2024, the Provincial People's Committee has directed departments, branches and localities to implement the contents according to specific milestones. In particular, the economic target accounts for about 10% of GRDP. 80% of people aged 15 and over have transaction accounts at banks or other licensed organizations. Regarding digital society, strive for over 45% of phone and smart device users to access and use e-government services and smart urban services. 50% of adults use electronic payment services.
Regarding overcoming difficulties and limitations, Plan 1004 also clearly states: it is necessary to research and submit to competent authorities to issue policies on minimum expenditure rates and instructions on unit prices and norms for information technology applications and digital transformation; Policies to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to digitally transform; Policies to hire digital transformation experts; support policies for Community Digital Technology Teams. Review and eliminate signal depressions in the area, ensuring mobile telecommunications network speed. Coordinate to accelerate the coverage of fiber optic cable networks and broadband mobile networks to all villages, hamlets, and residential areas; rapidly increase the rate of Internet users, especially in rural areas; improve connection capacity and network service quality, and coverage in white areas and depressions in broadband network connections.
“In digital transformation in the highlands, the human factor plays a decisive role. Digital transformation emphasizes transformation, which means changing the state from the real environment to the digital environment, so it takes a certain amount of time, first of all, it is a change in awareness. Therefore, we must not be hasty, because changing a habit, a way of thinking requires time and a roadmap, especially in specific areas of highlands, remote areas. In fact, in localities that have successfully piloted the construction of digital government, it has shown that there is a strong and unified participation of leaders and cadres. As for digital economic development, it is necessary to prioritize 3 contents: developing e-commerce; promoting non-cash electronic payments and implementing community tourism models, smart agricultural tourism” – the Deputy Director of the Department of Information and Communications affirmed.
In digital transformation in mountainous areas, the human factor plays a decisive role. Digital transformation emphasizes transformation, which means changing the state from the real environment to the digital environment, so it takes a certain amount of time, first of all, it is a change in perception.
Mr. Vo Trong Phu - Deputy Director of Department of Information and Communications
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