Applying information technology, improving the quality of administrative reform and building e-Government in the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) is a breakthrough content in building a modern military administrative system. This is also an urgent requirement today, since it makes contribution to building a lean, strong, modern VPA, meeting the requirements of national defence in the new situation.

Applying information technology to social life in general has been a popular activity in order to improve the productivity, quality and efficiency of each industry and society as a whole. In particular, to the military and national defence aspects, the application of information technology has been increasingly a priority of agencies and units in the whole VPA, becoming an indispensable "key tool" in the commander’s work of management and administration; a tool to quickly, accurately and securely deliver instructions and orders, to process and exchange information. Moreover, the application of information technology also makes an important contribution to improving the quality and effectiveness of administrative reform, developing e-Government, gearing towards digital government in the VPA and fulfilling the tasks of each agency and unit.

Implementing the Master Program on Public Administration Reform (PAR) for the 2011-2020 period in accordance to Resolution No. 30c/2011/NQ-CP dated November 8, 2011 of the Government, the Ministry of National Defence (MND) has implemented the PAR Project for the period of 2011 - 2020; Information technology application plan for the period of 2016 - 2020. Accordingly, the VPA’s agencies and units have applied information technology in their systems, including: document management, work records; military email; executive direction information; online meeting; reporting on dedicated networks, etc., creating favourable conditions for officers and employees to access, be familiar with and improve their level of information technology application, working in network environment, reducing the amount of sending and receiving paper documents, helping the work of direction and administration in a timely and accurate manner and ensuring information security. The MND has deployed an online public service system connecting to an interconnected one-door system, gradually providing level 3 and 4 of online public services, helping citizens and businesses easily access and smoothly implement public administrative procedures managed by the MND.

In addition to the recorded outcomes, there remain limitations and inadequacies in the implementation process that should be overcome, such as: all levels, especially the grassroots level, have not really paid adequate attention to the application of information technology in the work of direction, management and administration; the applying level of information technology of officers and employees is not uniform; the use of digital signatures has not been drastically implemented…. As the result, it is still necessary to run both electronic and paper-based systems for sending and receiving documents, causing heavier workloads. Up to now, the solution of sending and receiving classified documents in the electronic environment has just been in a trial process. Meanwhile the number of classified documents of the MND accounts for a high percentage; the information technology system has not been synchronised, so the exchange of data and data comparison between the systems still faces obstacles. As the result, the number of documents processed on the online public service system is still limited.

In order to realise the contents and targets identified in the goals and plans for applying information technology, improving the quality of administrative reform and developing e-Government, heading towards digital government in the VPA, it is necessary to focus on synchronously implementing the following solutions:

1. Stepping up the propaganda work to make Party committees, commanders and officers and employees at all levels, especially at grassroots level, properly aware of the functions, tasks, purposes and requirements of the further application of information technology, improving the quality and efficiency of administrative reform, developing e-Government, heading towards digital government in each agency, unit and the whole VPA. To do that, agencies and units should focus on thoroughly grasping and seriously implementing the Government's resolutions and decrees, the directives and plans of the Ministry of National Defence; particularly Resolution No. 76/NQ-CP, dated 15/7/2021 of the Government; Plan No. 3826/KH-BQP, dated September 28, 2021 of the MND on administrative reform within the MND for the period of 2021 - 2025; and Plan No. 229/KH-BQP, dated January 24, 2022 of the MND on the development of e-Government, heading towards a digital government within the MND in 2022. On that basis, attention should be paid to the leading and directing the work of planning and implementation of the application of information technology; in which, importance should be attached to issuing regulations on safe and effective network exploitation, that are relevant to the specific characteristics of military and defence activities. At the same time, emphasis should be placed on regularly supervising and guiding units and agencies to speed up application of information technology and development of e-Government, gearing towards digital government in administrative reform, that are synchronised and practical, making contribution to improving the work quality and efficiency. In addition, priority should be given to fostering and improving the level and capacity of information technology application and exploitation for staff at all levels, especially the contingent of information technology officers and staff.

In carrying out the propaganda work, it is necessary to ensure its regular implementation in different forms; its content and methods should be relevant to each object, agency, and unit, so as to create a drastic change in awareness, and the way to deal with work in the electronic environment of the leaders, commanders, officers, and staff at all levels. Leaders and commanders of agencies and units should be typical examples, take the leading role, and directly apply information technology in direction and administration.

2. Further boost the common applications on the military computer network (document management system and work records, information system for direction and administration, military email, online meeting software, etc.) to units at grassroots level, following the direction that wherever the military computer network deployed, the applications should also be installed. In addition, the work of conducting research, building and deploying shared applications should be done in a practical and effective manner.

For installed applications, it is necessary to bring them into play effectively; thoroughly exploit the document management and work records system, the information system for direction and administration, the military email system in directing and managing activities and sending and receiving data; getting rid of the use of unsafe USB in data exchange. The process of using applications is also the process of "enriching data" for synthesis, analysis, evaluation, storage and retrieval. It also helps to identify inadequacies and problems to promptly improve and upgrade applications, adjust, amend and issue new operating procedures to make them relevant to the daily use.

Attention should be paid to further use digital signatures for applications on military computer networks, expanding the objects that are allowed to use digital signatures, and create a premise for the settlement of administrative procedures in the electronic environment and e-Government development, gearing towards digital government. At the same time, it is necessary to speed up the trial and completion of solutions for sending, receiving, and processing confidential documents on military computer networks to increase the number of documents and data sent, received and processed in the electronic environment, ensuring quick, effective and secured use of information.

3. Promoting the use of the MND’s online public service system on Internet, connecting it to the one-stop shop system of the MND. Agencies and units, especially functional agencies of the MND and military press agencies should actively propagate in the mass media and issue policies to encourage people and businesses to use administrative procedures on the online public service portal. Important should be attached to reviewing administrative procedures and foundations, announcing and implementing the integration and provision of online public services on the Public Service Portal of the MND, adding the indicator of the rate of online public services and the amount of online processing records of the agencies that are in charge of handling administrative procedures into the annual assessment. Emphasis should be place on trialing the receipt of online applications for some types of online public services to certain work of the people and businesses. In the implementation process, it is necessary to monitor, measure, evaluate and manage the provision and effective use of online public services by agencies and units in order to learn from experience and promptly supplement and complete this important service.

4. Focusing on investment in construction of transmission infrastructure, connection systems, storage systems, exploitation and analysis of national databases (on population, environmental resources, health care, etc.) serving military and defence tasks and responding to emergencies. The transmission and connection infrastructure is considered the blood and the storage system is one of the indispensable elements of the information technology system. Therefore, it is necessary to comprehensively and synchronously study, calculate, plan, design, and invest in them with an appropriate roadmap. Developing standards and technical regulations on exchange data structures; management and connection instructions; regulations and processes for sharing data within the scope of management; issuing regulations on data exploitation and use of the databases agencies that are assigned by the MND to manage them.

5. Along with deploying shared platforms on military computer networks, it is necessary to soon have solutions to apply new technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such as: Cloud Computing, Big Data, mobile, Internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), Blockchain, and new digital technologies in the process of storing, processing and analysing data serving military and defence tasks. Through shared platforms, the work of connecting and sharing data between information technology systems and databases should be done in the connection models of intermediate systems or direct link between information and databases systems. This is the process of digital transformation in administrative reform.

In order to make administrative reform a regular work, it is necessary to further strengthen the roles, responsibilities, and capacities of the Standing Agency for Administrative Reform and E-Government of the MND, the key agencies in charge of administrative reform and implementation, work out a mechanism to assign, coordinate, unify, and clearly define specific authority and responsibilities between the agencies in charge of the implementation and the implementing units to ensure synchronisation and consistency in accordance with the roadmap and goals

Major General, Dr. NGUYEN VAN CHINH, Deputy Chief of the Office of the Central Military Commission – the MND Office.