100% online public services to fuel Da Nang’s high-tech economy ambitions

While Da Nang is better known for its pristine beaches and thriving tourism, the coastal city in central Vietnam is now charting a bold new course to position itself as a financial technology hub in Southeast Asia.

This pivot is driven by a few factors, namely a robust digital infrastructure, comprehensive online public services and a high-quality human capital, said Da Nang Committee’s Secretary, Nguyen Van Quang.

Speaking to GovInsider on the sidelines of the Da Nang Investment Forum 2025 in Singapore on March 3, Quang said the city sought to attract Singapore investors in its quest to become Southeast Asia’s next international financial centre for banking, fintech and green finance.

Da Nang has now digitised 100 per cent of its public services, said Quang, adding that the city is now ranked top in Vietnam for digital transformation.

As of August 2024, Da Nang Online pointed that the average rate of online public services availability in Vietnamese cities and provinces is at 55 per cent.

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Digital government as the foundation

The Da Nang People’s Committee Vice Chairwoman, Nguyen Thi Anh Thi, previously said at the Vietnam Digital Government Summit 2024 that Da Nang has been invested in developing and using the e-government platform and system since 2014.

This has set the foundation and is an enabler for Da Nang to “achieve positive results in many digital pillars,” she added.

The digital economy in Da Nang currently contributed about 24 per cent of the gross regional domestic product (GRDP), Quang shared in the interview with GovInsider.

GRDP is used to measure the economic output of a specific region within a country, while gross domestic product (GDP) measures the total economic output of an entire country.

In October 2024, Da Nang’s Department of Information and Communications reported the figure to be about 20.69 per cent of GRDP, which already exceeds the 2025 target of 20 per cent.

Quang added that there is a high level of satisfaction among the users of online public services, which is currently at 93 per cent.

“We are [also] developing the capacity of digital citizens, and investing in human resource development,” he added.

This is accompanied by the government’s efforts to develop a robust digital technology infrastructure including data centres and 5G networks, and a startup innovation ecosystem.

“All of these are the core components that will support high-tech development,” he said.

Da Nang is also expected to be Vietnam’s first ever pilot free trade zone, focusing on high-value exports, smart logistics and next-generation manufacturing.

While the proposal for a free trade zone has been circulated in other localities in Vietnam, the central government had only selected Da Nang for this pilot project, which underlined the government’s confidence in the city’s potential and advantages.

These plans include building an ecosystem for artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, e-commerce, blockchain technologies, and focusing on sectors like semiconductors, biotech, medical devices and renewable energy.

Da Nang’s key digital government initiatives

A recent article published by Da Nang Online highlighted several key initiatives in Da Nang’s digital government efforts.

The first initiative is Public Service Portal, a core platform that contained about 4,400 online services, which was set up in 2019.

The second initiative was the Intelligent Operation Centre (IOC), set up in 2023, which enabled real-time monitoring of service requests. It provided tools for public officers to track progress, receive automated alerts for delayed responses, and data analytics for performance evaluation.

Public officer targets were also tied to online public services.

Finally, to ensure citizen buy-in and inclusion of online public services, the city has been implementing models such as community digital technology teams, availing online public services at post offices in communes and wards, as well as smartphone support for poorer households.

The article claimed that 99 per cent of poor and near-poor households have already had smartphones.

AI in public services will be next

The Da Nang government is now looking to deploy more AI use cases in public service, said Quang. “We want to use technology to provide better services to our citizens and corporations,” he added.

The municipal Department of Information and Communications also planned to deploy virtual assistants in government operations, the article stated.

There were also reports of the Da Nang government looking to deploy blockchain technology in the realm of digital government services, according to the Vietnam Blockchain Association. 
 

Following a successful pilot which saw tangible outcomes in a village, state agencies’ data will be deployed on cloud infrastructure to ensure reliability and information security.

Da Nang is currently home to many multinational companies specialising in semiconductors and other intermediary parts needed for AI models, including Maxwell, Genesis, and Intel, Quang observed.

“We will be putting a lot more effort to invest in research and development (R&D) and to better manage our digital infrastructure, like telecommunications and data centers,” he explained.

A few days ago, the municipal Department of Science and Technology announced that it had invested nearly US$5.5 million (S$7.35 million) since 2021 on science and technology projects in Da Nang.

Vietnam Plus reported that the government is now prioritising to enhance human resources for science and innovation, as well as to tackle regulatory obstacles to attract and retain top scientists and experts.