Digital transformation and e-Government building is one of the major policies of our Party and State in order to develop the country on a par with the region and the world. In the field of military and defence, digital transformation contributes greatly to enhancing combat power, enabling the Military to timely respond to new challenges. The inevitability of the current digital transformation process requires that the entire Military show strong determination and try to synchronously implement several solutions to successfully accomplish this important task in accordance with the national digital transformation process, contributing to building a modern Military.

The documents of the 13th National Party Congress determined that: "Develop digital infrastructure robustly, build and develop synchronous and unified national, regional and local data infrastructure to create a foundation for the development of a digital economy and a digital society” is one of the three strategic breakthroughs in the 10-year socio-economic development strategy (2021-2030). In particular, promoting digital transformation, building e-Government towards digital government is one of the key strategies to create strong motivations for the development of the country in the new situation.

Deeply grasping that spirit, over the years, the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the Ministry of National Defence (MND) have led and directed agencies and units of the whole Military to drastically and synchronously implement solutions to promote digital transformation and develop e-Government in the military and defence fields, and achieved important and comprehensive results.

In the coming time, the Fourth Industrial Revolution will continue to have a strong impact on all areas of social life, including the military and defence fields. The inception of new, intelligent and modern weapons and technical equipment will significantly change combat methods and give rise to new forms of combat. In that context, digital transformation and digital-based decision-making have become an urgent issue for all countries and militaries, in order to ensure the faster, more mobile and precise operation for the armed forces.

As for the VPA, the Party, the State, the CMC and the MND are paying special attention to this issue. However, in order to achieve practical effectiveness, the MND should further promote digital transformation according to the Government's roadmap amid the drastic process of the national digital transformation. This will help creating an important foundation and motivation for building a modern Military, meeting the requirements of defending the Fatherland in the new situation.

The conference on Digital transformation in the Military to the year of 2025, with a vision to 2030, chaired by Sr. Lt. Gen Le Huy Vinh (Photo: qdnd.vn)

Inheriting and promoting the achieved results, bringing into play the strengths of the VPA in terms of organisation and research and production capacity, to fulfil the task of building e-Government and facilitating digital transformation, the entire Military, first of all the Party committees and commanders at all levels should be proactive, creative, implement drastically and synchronously many solutions, focusing on the following ones:

Firstly, strengthening the leadership and direction of the Party committees and commanders at all levels for the development of e-Government and digital transformation. Military offices and units should continue to thoroughly grasp the resolutions and directives of the Party and Government, the guidelines of the CMC, and the plans of the MND for this important task, especially the The plan to develop e-Government towards digital government in the Ministry of National Defence in the 2021 - 2025 period, with a vision to 2030. Based on those documents, agencies and units should make their own annual and periodical resolutions, programs, action plans of their respective levels in a comprehensive and feasible manner. First of all, there should be measures to strengthen leadership, direct and effectively implement the shared softwares in the digital environment. Also, it is necessary to consolidate the development of technical infrastructure; build shared and specialised databases; hold training in information technology skills, etc. Throughout the implementation process, it is necessary to closely combine the enhancement of leadership capacity of Party committees with the promotion of the roles and responsibilities of the commanders in leading and directing the performance of this task; the results of digital transformation and e-Government development of agencies and units should be considered as a criterion for the assessment of task completion of leaders, commanders and cadres at all levels; at the same time, good models and effective ways of collectives and individuals in implementing this task should be timely encouraged and praised.

Second, well implementing the tasks of digital transformation assigned by the Government. Digital transformation and e-Government building is a new, urgent, revolutionary and very complex issue, requiring appropriate knowledge, skills, methods and steps. In order to fulfil this task, in the short term, it is necessary to maintain the effectiveness of the Public Service Portal and the e-service system of the MND; restructure and decentralise the responsibility in the direction of simplification to create favourable conditions for the people and businesses when doing administrative formalities with the MND; continue to promote the effectiveness of the Electronic Border Portal on immigration procedures at the border gate system managed by the MND; supplement digital platforms and maintain the operation of websites and portals of agencies and units on the Internet for information and propaganda work. In addition, agencies and units should focus on researching, leading and well implementing their assigned tasks according to Decision No. 06/QD-TTg dated 6th January, 2022 of the Prime Minister approving the Project to develop the application of population data, identification and electronic authentication for national digital transformation in the period of 2022 - 2025, with a vision to 2030. In particular, they should coordinate with authorised agencies to connect and exploit the national databases for military and defence work; research the implementation of administrative formalities (military service, military enrollment, ...) on the basis of application of the national database on population.

Third, building a synchronous, modern and mobile digital infrastructure for the MND on the basis of applying achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Military agencies and units should focus on building a synchronous, solid, and modern digital infrastructure, especially the development of military computer networks to agencies and units in the whole Military, resolutely not to let any agencies and units stay out of the military computer network. Developing centralised data centres, researching new technologies to build soft infrastructure and shared digital platforms to meet the requirements of agencies, units and development trends. Conduct research and application of the achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and advanced technologies in military operations, especially the technologies of: simulation, mobility, artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data, Internet of Things, Open Source, Blockchain, quantum computing. Researching and building big data storage platforms, AI-based tools for data analysis and processing to serve the direction, administration, command automation, and information and network security. Building testing environments for new applications and technologies, IT-based training and combat options as a basis for evaluation and improvement before mass deployment at agencies and units.

Fourth, developing seamless and centralised digital data for the management, direction and administration of the MND. Promoting the achieved results, agencies and units should continue to consolidate, update and supplement existing databases. At the same time, they should build new databases to ensure the full, all-round and timely management of information about potentials in the MND through a unified identifier system. In the consolidation and building of new databases, it is necessary to meet the requirements of standardisation, synchronisation, openness, and eligibility for the safe integration and sharing among information systems. Priorities should be given to consolidating and building foundational databases, such as: Database on military personnel, weapons, and technical equipment to serve as the basis for creating other databases and step by step forming digital data infrastructure in the MND. Throughout the implementation process, it is necessary to closely link the construction and exploitation of digital data to serve the management, direction and administration at agencies and units, in order to make the most use of digital data.

Fifth, ensuring information safety and network security for digital transformation. Military agencies and units must strictly comply with regulations on information safety and network security for all equipment, products, software, information systems, IT investment projects, etc. Simultaneously, they should deploy synchronously monitoring systems, anti-malware softwares, anti-virus softwares, etc. to protect technical infrastructure and information systems in the MND; accelerate the formation of IT solutions to serve the transmission and exchange of information between network systems in a seamless, safe and secure manner. Implement and integrate information security tools, digital signatures, digital signature authentication services for electronic transactions and document storage for the sake of user convenience.

Last but not least, the whole Military should attach importance to force development and capacity building to meet the requirements of digital transformation, including: researching and proposing measures for human resource development in IT and cyber warfare fields in the entire Military, meeting the requirements for human resources for digital transformation; elaborating favourable policies to attract and promote the role of high-skill human resources for digital transformation in the Military; renovating the long-term training programs for specialised forces; updating training content on digital transformation at military academies and schools so that students can use digital technology upon their graduation; strengthening training and retraining for IT human resources; holding short courses with appropriate programmes to popularise digital transformation at agencies and units.

Digital transformation and building of e-Government in the MND are an indispensable trend, and the responsibility of agencies, units and each serviceman which should be further carried out drastically, synchronously and systematically from the MND to all of its subordinate levels. Each agency, unit and serviceman must identify themselves as an important link and implement this task with the highest sense of responsibility for the success of digital transformation in the MND.

Sr. Lt. Gen. LE HUY VINH, PhD., Member of the Party Central Committee, Member of the Central Military Commission, Deputy Minister of National Defence