Building a vital data foundation for governance and public administration

More than 155,000 linear meters of archival records held by agencies and organizations across Dong Nai City are being urgently reviewed and processed in preparation for digitization.

The initiative is considered a key task to ensure the continuity of state administration following the restructuring of administrative units. It is expected to prevent data disruptions while laying a unified foundation for digital government development and modern governance.

Ensuring data is accurate, complete, clean, up-to-date, unified and shared

The Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee (now the Dong Nai City People's Committee) issued Decision No. 1687/QD-UBND on April 29, 2026, approving a project on the digitization of archival records and documents of agencies and organizations across Dong Nai City for the 2026-2030 period (Project 1687). Earlier, Dong Nai also issued Decision No. 2996/QD-UBND dated December 5, 2025, approving a project on the management and professional processing of archived records and documents that had been inventoried before the reorganization of the administrative apparatus.

Nguyen Thi Hoang, Member of the City Party Committee, Vice Chairwoman of the Dong Nai City People's Committee, speaks at a conference on implementing the city's archival digitization project.

Following the administrative restructuring, the establishment of the new city-level administrative unit created the need to consolidate a vast volume of records and documents from the two former localities. This process is essential to ensure continuity in governance and prevent interruptions or fragmentation of information during the operation of the new administrative system. At the same time, the development of a unified digital archive repository will facilitate the integration, connection and coordinated use of archival resources inherited from the two former localities, addressing data fragmentation while improving information retrieval and utilization.

According to Project 1687, Dong Nai currently manages more than 155,000 linear meters of archival materials. Of this volume, approximately 77 percent, or around 120,000 linear meters, has yet to be catalogued and organized. Most records remain in paper format. Many documents with long-term preservation value, ranging from 50 to 70 years or even permanent retention, face the risk of deterioration if they are not properly preserved and digitized in a timely manner. At present, archival materials remain scattered across multiple locations, while information retrieval and access are still conducted largely through manual methods, falling short of requirements for digital connectivity, integration and online access.

The implementation of these projects is expected to establish an archival database that meets the criteria of being accurate, complete, clean, up-to-date, unified and shared. The database will provide a foundation for data connectivity and sharing among agencies and organizations, supporting state administration, administrative reform and digital transformation. The initiative also contributes to the implementation of Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo, helping modernize archival and records management while maximizing the value of data resources for socio-economic development.

Determined to complete the task in 2026

At a recent conference on the implementation of projects related to the processing, organization and digitization of archival records, Nguyen Thi Hoang emphasized that this is a key task that the City Party Committee (CPC)’s Standing Board has directed must be completed within 2026.

"This task is also included in the city's special 500-day-and-night emulation campaign and will serve as a key criterion for assessing the performance of agency and unit leaders," she said.

According to leader of the City People’s Committee, implementation progress has been divided according to the volume of archival materials involved. The organization and processing of records must be completed by October 31, 2026, while digitization will be carried out on a rolling basis and finalized by December 31, 2026. Agencies and units have therefore required all agencies and organizations to strictly fulfill their assigned responsibilities, proactively report any difficulties or obstacles, and refrain from proposing deadline extensions. Relevant departments have been tasked with providing guidance, professional support and funding assistance while closely monitoring implementation progress.

Following directives from the CPC’s Standing Board and the City People's Committee, relevant agencies have quickly developed implementation plans for projects related to archival processing, organization and digitization.

Ha Thanh Tung, Deputy Director of the Department of Home Affairs, said the City People's Committee has issued Plan No. 81/KH-UBND to implement the project on managing and processing records and documents inventoried prior to the administrative restructuring. It has also issued Plan No. 82/KH-UBND on digitizing archival records and documents across agencies and organizations.

Although the digitization project originally set a timeline for implementation from 2026 to 2030, the schedule has been shortened in accordance with the conclusion of the CPC’s Standing Board, with the goal of completing the entire task within 2026. Accelerating implementation is expected to facilitate the early establishment of a centralized and unified digital archival database capable of serving governance, administration and data exploitation needs across the city.

As of June 11, 2026, all 131 agencies and organizations had completed their implementation plans. Among them, 63 units had established management and supervision teams, while many others had already secured funding approval and begun archival processing and digitization work.

According to Tung, only about six months remain for implementation. Agencies and organizations therefore need to maintain a proactive approach, accelerate document reviews, complete procedures, allocate resources and carry out archival processing and digitization in a coordinated manner.

These efforts will contribute to the completion of a centralized and unified archival database in accordance with directives from the CPC’s Standing Board and the City People's Committee.

In Binh Minh commune, local authorities have completed a review of the volume of records requiring processing and are finalizing procedures for implementation under the city's guidance.

Pham Thi Le Thuy, Vice Chairwoman of the Binh Minh commune People's Committee, said the locality has submitted a request to the Department of Finance for funding to support archival processing activities.

"The commune is committed to launching implementation immediately after funding is approved and completing all assigned tasks on schedule," she said.

The completion of archival digitization will help safeguard valuable historical and legal records while creating a vital data foundation to support governance, administrative reform and the development of digital government in Dong Nai's next stage of growth.

By Ho Thao – Translated by M.Nguyet, Thu Ha