Supporting ethnic minority communities in digital transformation

In recent times, the Party Committee of Xuan Phu Commune has directed local agencies and organizations to help residents, with particular attention given to ethnic minority communities, enabling them to become digital citizens and improve their quality of life.

Xuan Phu Commune officials and members of the Community Digital Technology Group guide people on how to install and use the VNeID application and digital platforms. Photo: Phuong Hang

The commune has consistently embraced a people- and business-centered approach, ensuring that science, technology and innovation are closely aligned with socio-economic development and contribute to improving public well-being.

Bringing digital transformation to every resident

Lai The Thong, Secretary of the Xuan Phu Commune Party Committee, Chairman of the Commune People's Council and Head of the Steering Committee for the Development of Science, Technology, Innovation and Digital Transformation, said that in implementing the Politburo’s Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW, local Party Committees and authorities have directed sectors, mass organizations and Community Digital Technology Teams to step up propaganda, strengthen public awareness and promote digital literacy among residents. Special attention has been given to ethnic minority groups to ensure that everyone can access and benefit from digital transformation, gradually narrowing the digital divide between regions and population groups while contributing to building digital government, digital society and digital citizens across the commune. Ethnic minority people account for approximately 28 percent of Xuan Phu's population.

The commune has organized numerous outreach campaigns to help residents, including ethnic minority people, create personal digital signatures, electronic identification accounts and electronic health records. The goal is for every household to have at least one member capable of using digital services for administrative procedures, conducting electronic transactions and accessing online public services. These efforts have helped Xuan Phu consistently rank among Dong Nai City's leading localities in the provision of online public services.

Once residents become proficient in digital skills, the commune also encourages them to participate in innovation communities and promote local images and community-based tourism through mass media and social media platforms, contributing to both higher living standards and local socio-economic development.

Hoang Hong Quay, a member of the Tay ethnic group, former head of the former Dong Minh Hamlet (now Lang Minh Hamlet) and leader of the Community Digital Technology Team, said ethnic minorities had previously accounted for 45 percent of the hamlet's population, mainly including theHoa, Tay, Nung, Thai, San Chi and Cho Ro people. In recent times, he, together with commune officials and members of the Community Digital Technology Team, has visited households to help residents—particularly ethnic minority families—create personal digital signatures, activate electronic health records and use digital services available on the VNeID application.

Guidance is provided mainly in the evenings and on weekends, when residents are not working. To help residents know how to use digital technologies, particularly older people and those with limited literacy skills, commune officials and members of the community digital technology team  patiently provide one-on-one, hands-on instruction until the residents become familiar with the technology. To help residents remember passwords for digital applications, commune officials and members of the community digital technology team even write them down and advise users on how to store the information safely for future reference.

Thanks to the dedicated guidance, 300 out of 560 households in the former Dong Minh Hamlet have possessed personal digital signatures through VNeID, while 92 percent of residents aged 14 and above have obtained Level-2 electronic identification accounts.

Delivering tangible benefits

According to Hoang Hong Quay, after receiving guidance, residents are now able to search for information independently, use electronic health records and complete a range of online administrative procedures using internet-connected smartphones. Meanwhile, around 26 percent of local residents have begun using e-commerce platforms to buy and sell products and conduct cashless payments.

Dieu Lang, a resident of Lang Minh Hamlet, expressed his satisfaction with the changes. "In the past, we had to visit government offices for almost every procedure. Now, with a smartphone, many administrative tasks can be completed quickly and conveniently," he said.

Nguyen Viet Hoai, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Xuan Phu Commune Party Committee, said the commune has recently launched a campaign to universalise the use of personal digital signatures and improve digital literacy among residents across its hamlets. Community Digital Technology Teams, Youth Union members and commune officials and civil servants have visited the hamlets to guide residents in creating digital signatures on smartphones, registering accounts, activating digital identities and learning how to use digital services for administrative procedures and cashless payments.

In addition to promoting the adoption of digital signatures, volunteers also guided residents in developing basic digital skills, including using smartphones safely, searching for information online, identifying and preventing online scams, making electronic payments, and using the VNeID application and other digital platforms in their daily lives.

These initiatives have helped bring digital technology closer to local communities, particularly ethnic minority residents, gradually realising the goal of leavning no one behind in the digital transformation process.

In the coming period, Xuan Phu Commune will continue expanding community-based support models to help residents, especially ethnic minority groups, access digital technology, while increasing the use use of digital signatures, electronic health records and other digital platforms in support of building a digital government, digital economy and digital society.

By Phuong Hang - Translated by Mai Nga, Thu Ha