The construction of e-government towards digital governance is an inevitable trend in the era of accelerating industrialisation and modernisation. In the field of military and national defence, building e-government is of paramount importance, contributes to improving the quality and effectiveness of management, guidance and administration and  performing the function of state management of the Ministry of National Defence (MND) to meet the requirements and tasks in protecting the Fatherland in the new situation.

Thoroughly grasping the guidelines of the Party, the Government and Central Military Commission, MND has drawn up a wide array of guidelines and measures for leading and directing to step by step build and develop e-government in the field of military and national defence. The Politburo issued Decree No.36-NQ/TW dated July 1^st, 2014 on “Accelerating the application and development of information technology to meet the requirements of sustainable development and international integration”. Stipulating the Party’s guidelines, since 2015, the Prime Minister has issued numerous document on directing the construction and development of e-government towards digital governance. MND has approved the Architecture Framework for e-Government version 1.0, Plan to build the e-Government periodically and yearly, statutes on sending and receiving documents, forming and submitting e-profiles on cyberspace to unify orientations and operation within the Army.

MND’s functional agencies have brought into play their roles in advising, recommending and instructing agencies and units in the whole Army to synchronously implement technical and specialist measures for building e-government and technical infrastructure, ensuring security and safety in service of commanding and administering to take the initial step in smoothly operating on cyberspace. Science and technology have been effectively applied to weapons and equipment renovation, training, teaching, scientific research, specialist work of branches, defence industry, etc. A force specialised in e-government has been established and developed in a professional and in-depth orientation. As of February 2022, 54.17% of agencies and units directly under MND utilised Command and Control Information System; 76.39% used Documents and Profile Management software; 87.5% used digital signatures. The rate of documents sent and received internally on military computer networks reaches 80% of unclassified documents and 100% of documents with digital signature in accordance with the Government’s regulations via National Document Communication Axis

MND’s Public Service Portal, up to now, has provided 292 administrative formalities via the Internet. The Portal has  effectively provided e-border procedure and connecting with National One-stop Portal. A data warehouse of Military Science Information has been established with over 2 million digitised documents that are organised into 30 component databases and over 40 digital libraries in the whole Army. Since April 1^st, 2022, agencies and units directly under the Ministry have sent and received digitally signed electronic documents containing on military data networks. The implementation of e-government in defence has gained positive outcomes in creating a foundation to connect and exchange information and specialist knowledge between MND and the state agencies, step by step shifting conventional approaches and handling of work to cyber environment to promptly facilitate the state management function in terms of defence and the management and administration of all-level Party committees and commands.

Sr. Lt. Gen. Le Huy Vinh speaks at the conference on administrative reform and e-government in MND

In the 2021-2025 period and beyond, MND determines to carry out digital transformation comprehensively, based on data and digital technologies. To that end, some measures are required to be  synchronously implemented with sheer determination and drastic actions from the Ministry to agencies and units. In the immediate future, it is necessary to implement these key measures as follows:

Firstly, boosting propagation and education to improve the awareness and responsibility for cadres, party members and personnels, especially all-level Party committees, commands, leading agencies and specialised forces in developing e-government towards e-governance. It is necessary to thoroughly grasp the guidelines of the Party, the policies and law of the State, MND’s programmes and plans for developing e-government towards e-governance, especially Plan No.4396/KH-BQP issued on November 4^th, 2021 on developing e-government in the 2021-2021 period with an orientation towards 2030 and Plan No.229/KH-BQP issued on January 24^th, 2022 on developing e-Government towards digital governance in MND in 2022. All cadres, party members and personnels should acquire due understanding on the goals, requirements, overall tasks, procedures, approaches, and take part in building e-government towards e-governance in MND, particularly in their branches, agencies and units.

Secondly, strengthening the leadership and management of all-level Party committees and commands for the task of building e-government towards e-governance. Basing on the programmes and plans of MND, all-level Party committees and commands need to draft practical guidelines and measures to lead, direct and develop specific plans and roadmap suitable with the features, functions and tasks of each agency and unit. Regularly check, appropriately mobilise and arrange all sources, especially internal ones to serve the construction of e-government towards e-governance and ensure the effectiveness and thrifty.

Promoting the roles and responsibility of the standing Steering Board for administration reform and e-government of MND (the standing agency) in designing overall programmes and plans in accordance with the direction of the Government and the military and defence condition to ensure the feasibility during the implementation. The standing agency needs to research, amend and upgrade MND’s Architecture Framework of e-Government to fit the development trend and Architecture Framework of National e-Government version 2.0.

Thirdly, building and perfecting the institution, creating a synchronous legal corridor for the construction of e-government towards digital governance. In the period of 2022 – 2025, the leading agencies need to bring into play the advisory role for MND in facilitating the construction and perfection of legal documents, instructing and creating a complete legal corridor for practical and effective construction of e-government towards digital governance. The office of MND needs to proactively coordinate with functional agencies and units to check and update MND’s annual list of online public service, research and recommend to promulgate the coordinating statutes among military and civilian agencies and units on building e-government, digital governance, operational regulations of webpages or portals, etc. The standing agency should research, advise MND to introduce the regulations on receiving, storing, preserving and providing information and data within the Ministry, stipulate the framework on specialist training of e-government in MND, prescribe the standardised connection and sharing of information and data in accordance with  the military characteristics, guide the construction of databases at the Ministry and branches levels, etc.

Fourthly, developing high-qualified human resources as a core to build e-government towards e-governance in MND. It is necessary for agencies and units to attach importance to build a contingent of cadres and personnels with high qualification in science and technology as well as political steadfastness and virtue. During implementation, it is necessary to properly assign tasks and have appropriate remuneration policies to bring into full play each individual’s competence and creativity. Military academies and schools should consider and promptly bring the contents on e-government to their curriculum. Concurrently, specialist training courses should be held regularly, particularly, on fostering and enhancing the expertise of specialist team in e-government of agencies and units. Some contents on background knowledge of e-government and e-governance need bringing into on-the-job training for cadres, party members and personnels at agencies and units.

Finally, strengthening the application of science and technology, ensuring safety and confidentiality as well as boosting the implementation and perfection of technical infrastructure. It is necessary to promote the leading roles of scientific and technological agencies and units in researching, developing and mastering key technologies to advise the Ministry to strengthen the application of the achivements of the 4^th Industrial Revolution to the construction of e-government such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, blockchain, etc. Priority should be given to building digital infrastructure synchronously and flexibly, and building digital databases in a unified and safe manner.

Constructing e-government towards e-governance in MND is a significant guideline which is not only urgent but also fundamental and long-lasting development with proper route to gain practical effectiveness and create administrative approaches for the construction of a revolutionary, regular, elite and modern Army, acting as the core strength in the cause of Fatherland protection in the new situation.

Major General NGUYEN VIET TUYEN, Chief of the Office of the Central Military Commission, Office of the Ministry of National Defence