THE PRIME MINISTER

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To approve the 2008 Plan on information technology (IT) application to operations of state agencies (referred to as the Plan for short) in order to implement Decree No. 64/2007/ND-CP, with the following main contents:

I. OBJECTIVES

1. To improve administration and management capacity of state agencies

a/ For the Government:

To ensure that some of the Government’s or the Prime Minister’s meetings with some ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provinces or centrally run cities will be organized in the online environment.

b/ For ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provinces and centrally run cities:

- Meetings between leaders of ministries, ministerial-level agencies or People’s Committees of provinces or centrally run cities with their subordinate units will be gradually organized in the online environment.

- By the end of 2008, 40% of documents (including reports, invitation letters, work schedules) will be exchanged via email between leaders of the Government and ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provinces and centrally run cities.

- All ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provinces and centrally run cities will ensure that their cadres and civil servants are given email addresses (with the domain name of .gov.vn). By the end of 2008, 50% of cadres and civil servants of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and centrally run cities will use email in their jobs and this rate will be 30% in provinces and 10% in mountainous, deep-lying and remote areas (down to the district level).

- 70% of document management and administration work at offices of ministries and ministerial-level agencies will be dealt with in the online environment and this rate will be 50% at offices of People’s Committees of provinces or centrally run cities and 20% at offices of district-level People’s Committees.

2. To serve people and enterprises

a/ To ensure that ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provinces and centrally run cities will have e-portals with significant information as prescribed in Article 28 of the Law on Information Technology, which supply electronic forms (at least one) for public administrative services to people and enterprises.

b/ Centrally run cities will ensure that their e-portals will enable people and enterprises to make online declaration and registration in electronic forms.

II. TASKS AND ASSIGNMENTS

1. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provinces and centrally run cities shall coordinate with the Ministry of Information and Communication in implementing the Plan to ensure that it is in line with the branch and local socio-economic development plans, including:

a/ Rationalizing, improving and making transparent work processes and administrative procedures in state agencies as well as inter-agency processes for efficient IT application, ensuring that work processes will be rationalized before making investment in IT systems;

b/ Perpetuating achievements, further building and perfecting digital information systems serving direction, administration and management work of the Government, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provinces and centrally run cities, covering at least the following:

- An email system;

- An information system for document management and administration.

c/ Further building and completing e-portals (or websites) of all ministries, ministerial-level agencies, People’s Committees of provinces and centrally run cities for the supply of online information and public administrative services to people and enterprises, including:

- Supplying information of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provinces and centrally run cities in the online environment;

- Supplying electronic forms in replacement of paper forms to citizens, enterprises and organizations in their transactions with state agencies. This should closely be coordinated with the tasks under the 2007-2010 Scheme on simplification of administrative procedures in different state management domains;

- Creating online channels for the receipt of people’s and enterprises’ opinions on operations of state agencies.

d/ Establishing, developing, adding and upgrading intranets and other technical infrastructures in service of IT application to operations of agencies and localities;

e/ Implementing or preparing, uniformly from ministries or ministerial-level agencies to provinces and centrally run cities, investment in a number of particular schemes and projects of branches, and some common-use schemes and projects of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provinces and centrally run cities according to Appendix I (not printed herein).

f/ Ministries and ministerial-level agencies shall guide localities on technical issues, schedule and mode of coordination and implementation of particular projects managed by ministries or ministerial-level agencies for their successful implementation.

g/ Training all cadres and civil servants to use email and exploit the Internet, and use available software applications within their agencies;

h/ Organizing propaganda within agencies, raising IT application knowledge, awareness, responsibility and capability for cadres, civil servants and people;

i/ Before June 30, 2008, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provinces and centrally run cities shall elaborate their own plans on IT application in the 2009-2010 period, to be sent the Ministry of Information and Communication for synthesis, appraisal and approval.

2. The Ministry of Information and Communication shall:

a/ Propose the strengthening of the National Steering Committee for Information Technology (to be completed in the first quarter of 2008);

b/ Set up a steering committee in charge of IT application to operations of state agencies, which will be headed by a leader of the Ministry of Information and Communication and have members being representatives of departmental-level officials of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Government Office (to be completed in the first quarter of 2008);

c/ Formulate regulations and mechanisms for the management of investment in state budget-funded IT application projects (to be completed in the first quarter of 2008);

d/ Formulate lists of standards and technical regulations on IT which should be applied to state agencies (to be completed in the first quarter of 2008);

e/ Formulate standards, technical regulations and content requirements for common-use projects of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities;

f/ Organize reviews to draw experience, transfer technological know-how and methods of organization of IT application projects;

g/ Provide specialist support for ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities to elaborate and implement IT application plans in their 2008 activities;

h/ Assume the prime responsibility for gathering reports and assessing the extent of IT application and conduct regular reviews of the Plan implementation progress. Urge and examine the performance of the Plan’s tasks, and promptly report it to the Prime Minister for appropriate handling of organizations and individuals that fail to fulfill their tasks defined in the Plan. Based on assessments during the implementation of the Plan, if detecting any big problems which affect the fulfillment of the Plan’s objectives, the Ministry of Information and Communication shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with concerned agencies in, proposing adjustments or supplements to the Plan’s objectives and tasks, and submit them to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision;

i/ Direct the application of typical IT application models in a number of ministries, provinces and cities with different regional or local particularities;

j/ Direct the implementation and completion of the first stage (connection of all ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provinces and cities) and the second stage (connection of services, departments, branches, urban districts and rural districts) of the project on special-use data transmission networks of Party and state agencies before September 30, 2008 (in line with the Government direction in Official Letter No. 228/CP-CN of February 19, 2004) so as to ensure fast, quality, stable, confidential and safe data transmission within these networks;

k/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs in, formulating and promulgating professional standards, IT titles and IT management titles in state agencies (to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2008);

l/ Select the most efficient software for document management and administration work at offices of district-level People’s Committees nationwide and upgrade it for common use at all these offices;

m/ Organize evaluation of websites and e-portals of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities so as to raise their quality and efficiency;

n/ Coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance in appraising and approving the 2009-2010 plans on IT application to operations of state agencies, of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provinces and centrally-run cities;

o/ Assume the prime responsibility for elaborating, and submit to the Prime Minister for approval, a national plan on IT application to operations of state agencies during 2009-2010 (to be completed before July 31, 2008);

p/ Monitor and review the implementation of IT application projects (according to Appendix IV) by ministries and branches which are outside the scope of this Plan.

3. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall:

a/ Balance and arrange budget for this Plan;

b/ Assume the prime responsibility for mobilizing aid programs and official development assistance sources from various donors for projects on IT application to operations of state agencies.

4. The Ministry of Finance shall:

a/ Ensure central budget funding for this Plan;

b/ Coordinate with the Ministry of Information and Communication and the Ministry of Planning and Investment in guiding the management and use of funds for IT application to operations of state agencies.

5. The Ministry of Home Affairs shall:

a/ Formulate and promulgate criteria for, and title of, IT director and guide ministries, branches and localities in their uniform application (to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2008);

b/ Formulate and develop a contingent of IT directors, train and foster IT knowledge for cadres, civil servants and public employees;

c/ Elaborate and promulgate regulations on the storage of digital information of state agencies.

6. The Government Office shall:

a/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs and relevant agencies in, unifying common electronic forms for transactions between ministries, ministerial-level agencies and government-attached agencies and transactions between state agencies and organizations and individuals;

b/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs and relevant agencies in, guiding the improvement, standardization and application of common work processes, ensuring synchronous work processes between state agencies;

c/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with relevant agencies in, establishing an electronic and multimedia briefing system for the Government’s and the Prime Minister’s direction and administration of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities;

d/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities in, establishing databases on administrative procedures, application and declaration forms for publication on the Internet;

e/ Guide ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities in establishing databases on administrative procedures, application and declaration forms;

f/ Elaborate and submit to the Prime Minister for promulgation a Regulation on management, exploitation and operation of databases on administrative procedures, business conditions, application and declaration forms.

7. For ministries, provinces and cities which apply typical models

a/ To apply typical IT application models in some ministries (Information and Communication; Education and Training; Finance; and Justice) and some provinces and cities with different regional and local particularities (Lao Cai, Dak Lak, Nghe An, Quang Ninh, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City); then draw experience to create and perfect IT products for application to ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provinces and centrally run cities throughout the country;

b/ The Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice, the People’s Committees of Lao Cai, Dak Lak, Nghe An and Quang Ninh provinces and Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh cities shall, within the scope of their management, coordinate with the Ministry of Information and Communication in identifying objectives, contents and scale of IT application to operations of state agencies during 2009-2010;

c/ The Ministry of Information and Communication, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice shall quickly establish in 2008 the following digital information systems:

- E-portals (or websites);

- Email systems;

- Systems for management of documents and administration at ministerial offices;

- E-briefing systems between ministries and their subordinate units;

- Branch-level particular projects.

d/ The People’s Committees of Lao Cai, Dak Lak, Nghe An and Quang Ninh provinces and Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh cities shall quickly establish in 2008 the following digital information systems:

- E-portals (or websites);

- Email systems;

- Systems for management of documents and administration at Offices of People’s Committees;

- A system for management of legal documents and administration at a typical urban or rural district;

- E-briefing systems between provincial People’s Committees and their respective urban and rural districts.

III. FUNDING FOR IMPLEMENTATION

1. Central budget funding for implementation of the Plan

The central budget fund for implementation of this Plan is deducted from the 2008 state budget reserves.

2. Financial principles and investment management

a/ Ministries and ministerial-level agencies will be allocated funds from the central budget for rationalizing, improving and making transparent work processes and administrative procedures in state agencies as well as inter-agency processes for efficient IT application; conduct or prepare investment in branch-level particular projects and common-use projects; serve IT application to operations of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and the IT skills training for cadres and civil servants, and other jobs;

b/ Ministries applying typical models are given priority in fund allocation for IT application at the proposal of the Ministry of Information and Communication. Provinces and cities applying typical models are given priority in terms of central budget supports for IT application at the proposal of the Ministry of Information and Communication;

c/ Localities with budget difficulties (as specified in Appendix III - not printed herein) will be supported by the central budget;

d/ Funding for the operation of the steering committee (for monitoring, supervision, appraisal, reporting, specialist support, learning from international experience, formulation of mechanisms and policies…) will be assured by the central budget;

e/ A fund allocation mechanism shall be jointly formulated by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Information and Communication.

IV. SOLUTIONS

1. To closely combine this Plan with the administrative reform program

The National IT Steering Committee shall coordinate with the Steering Committee for the Administrative Reform Program in applying IT to operations of state agencies so as to accelerate administrative reform which, in return, will contribute to raising the IT application efficiency.

2. To monitor and supervise the implementation of the Plan

a/ Agencies with the prime responsibility for performing tasks and projects of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provinces and centrally run cities shall, once every three months or extraordinarily, report the situation of implementation of the Plan according to the guidance and requirements of the Ministry of Information and Communication;

b/ Based on the reports of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provinces and centrally run cities, the Ministry of Information and Communication shall send quarterly review reports to the Prime Minister;

c/ The Ministry of Information and Communication shall organize the monitoring and evaluation of the Plan implementation by ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities;

d/ People’s Committees of provinces and centrally run cities shall organize periodical inspection, monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the Plan in localities.

Article 2.- Organization of implementation

1. The Ministry of Information and Communication shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with other ministries, ministerial-level agencies, localities and enterprises in, organizing the implementation of this Plan.

2. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provinces and centrally run cities assigned to take the prime responsibility for the tasks specified in Item II, Article 1 and common-use projects or branch-level particular projects in Appendix I shall formulate and implement specific projects in 2008.

Article 3.- This Decision takes effect 15 days after its publication in "CONG BAO."

Article 4.- Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, presidents of People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities, and heads of concerned units shall implement this Decision.