People and businesses are not yet 'interested' in online public services

(Baonghean.vn) - In recent times, agencies and departments have deployed a number of online public services, contributing to many results in the administrative procedure reform of the province. However, bringing high-level online public services (level 3, 4) to the people is a big challenge for functional sectors.

For example, at the Department of Transport, the implementation of level 3 public services in the field of online issuance and exchange of driving licenses was implemented from May 20, 2015. Under this form, people who need to exchange driving licenses instead of having to go to the Department of Transport to do it can access the electronic information page: gplx.gov.vn (home page, go to the online driving license exchange section) to fill in the information to request issuance and exchange of driving licenses and the Department will respond via email, with an appointment date for the results.

Just need a computer connected to the internet to register business registration documents online, however each month the business registration field at the Department of Planning and Investment only receives 2-3 online registrations out of a total of 500 received documents.

To operate this service, the Department invested in equipment to install and operate a level 3 public service software system to exchange driving licenses according to procedures, instructions, with full equipment and transmission lines, and at the same time arranged qualified staff with professional qualifications to meet the requirements. Issuing and exchanging driving licenses online contributes to creating convenience, reducing travel time and costs for people. However, after one year of implementing this service, there have only been 10 registrations.

Or at the Department of Planning and Investment, although the Department provides level 4 public services, in the field of business registration, on average, only 2-3 sets of registration documents are processed online each month out of a total of about 500 received documents. Mr. Nguyen Duc Thang - Deputy Head of Business Registration Office, Department of Planning and Investment of Nghe An said: "The Department has invested in equipment, built software, arranged staff, promoted and instructed on how to use the online business registration software, but the number of businesses using this service is too small".

The psychology of people in the traditional form of going to do administrative procedures directly with state agencies. (In the photo: People come to do administrative procedures at the Vinh City One-Stop Transaction Center).

Online public services are applied according to the e-Government model in Vietnam, including 4 levels. Transactions in the process of receiving documents and providing services are carried out online. In addition to full information at level 1, application forms and documents that can be downloaded at level 2, sending documents online and making transactions online as at level 3, level 4 allows users to pay fees online, and results can be returned online or sent by post.

Levels 3 and 4 are two high levels in providing online public services that are assessed to not only bring many benefits and conveniences to people, organizations and businesses but also reduce paperwork pressure and minimize harassment factors in state management agencies.

Checking administrative procedure reform at Nghe An Tax Department.

However, up to now, research shows that the level of interest and use of online public services provided by businesses and people in the province is not much. The main reason is that the propaganda work to make people and businesses aware of these services is still limited.

Furthermore, a large part of the population are farmers and laborers, so their computer skills are limited. Most people still choose the traditional way of going directly to the authorities to carry out administrative procedures when needed.

“We have little access to computers and the internet, so we don’t know about online public services. When we carry out administrative transactions, we go directly to state agencies,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Nam, Hung Nguyen Town, Hung Nguyen District.

With the above reasons, according to the roadmap for implementing the Resolution on e-Government, Nghe An strives to achieve 40% of online public services from the province to the commune level by 2020, which is a big challenge.

Building e-Government in the province by effectively providing high-level online public services requires synchronous solutions.

Le Thanh