Digital transformation in ethnic minority areas

At a shoe store located in a Dao ethnic minority hamlet at the edge of the forest in Hamlet 6, Thanh Son Commune, Dong Nai Province, after a customer has chosen a pair of sandals that she likes, Ms. Hoang Thi Thanh (Dao ethnic minority) opens the QR code on her phone for the buyer to pay. After checking that the money has been deposited into the account, the seller and buyer part ways happily because the transaction has been completed.

Mr. Hoang Van Thai (Dao ethnic group), a prestigious person among ethnic minorities in Hamlet 6, Thanh Son commune, paid for the purchase by bank transfer.

Recently, buying and selling by bank transfer like at Ms. Hoang Thi Thanh's store has been happening quietly but quickly in most ethnic minority hamlets in remote communes like Thanh Son.

In the forest transfer

Ms. Dieu Thi Ut (Choro ethnic group), a prestigious person among the ethnic minorities in Hamlet 5, said: Most of the Choro people's fields are far from their homes. Therefore, when buying goods online, the delivery person often has no one to pay. At times like that, the neighbor will receive and check for them, if the goods are correct, they will call the buyer to transfer money to the delivery staff. This is very convenient for both the buyer and the delivery person.

According to Mr. Tran Hoan (delivery staff), the hamlets in Thanh Son commune are quite far apart. In densely populated residential areas, the concrete roads run smoothly, but in houses located in the middle of large fields, the roads are both far and very difficult to travel. Therefore, making payment by bank transfer saves time and fuel for the delivery person because he does not have to go back and forth to the customer's house many times.

According to Mr. Nong Van Quyet (Tay ethnic group, Hamlet 8): From the edge of the concrete road to his house is about 2km, there is a bumpy, honeycombed rock path that can only fit one motorbike. It is easy in the dry season, but in the rainy season, those with weak driving skills can easily fall. Recently, the family has borrowed money from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies for their children to go to school, to build clean water and rural environmental sanitation works. Previously, every month when paying interest and depositing savings, the head of the Savings and Loan Group would come to the house to collect money or he would go to the head's house. On rainy days, it was difficult for the female head of the group to travel to his house. But since the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies app was installed on the borrower's and the head's phones, and the mobile network was stable, everything has become simpler. When the money transfer is completed, he takes a screenshot of the transfer to save and sends it to Zalo messages for the head of the group to update the information.

Mr. Nong Van Quyet (Tay ethnic group, Hamlet 8, Thanh Son commune) discussed with the Head of the Savings and Loan Group of Hamlet 8 about using the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies app to transfer monthly interest instead of having someone come to his house to collect money like before.

In addition, according to Ms. Hoang Thi Lan (Tay ethnic group, Hamlet 6): During the process of moving from the northern mountainous provinces here, the Tay ethnic group maintained the traditional art form of Then singing - Tinh lute. When communication is convenient, the Tay people in the commune and in the countryside directly call each other on video to instruct each other on new songs, correct each other's lyrics and melodies. Or when needing to buy a lute, people from the countryside call directly on video so that people here can choose at the store, if they like it, they transfer money immediately and the goods are then sent to the commune.

Dong Nai currently has 484 prestigious people among ethnic minorities and 98 village elders representing nearly 406 thousand ethnic minorities.

Thanks to the telecommunications network and familiarity with using applications on mobile devices, even though she is far away from her farm, Mrs. Lan can still monitor her grandchildren's activities at home through connecting to the security camera at home. Or she can easily look up information about the health insurance cards of each family member to register to buy again on time. When buying, she transfers money to the agent without having to meet in person.

Use social media safely

The fact that ethnic minorities in Thanh Son commune are familiar with digital transformation today must first of all mention the efforts of authorities at all levels when they have paid attention to investing in building telecommunications infrastructure to residential areas.

At the same time, according to Party Secretary and Chairman of Thanh Son Commune People's Council Ngo Hoang Hai: Training activities on safe use of social networks, prevention of online fraud, support for making ATM cards and using banking apps, installing apps related to performing administrative procedures... for ethnic minorities are regularly organized by authorities at all levels.

Ms. Dieu Thi Ut added: “Prestigious people among ethnic minorities like me receive 800,000 VND in support from the State every month. In order for prestigious people among ethnic minorities to set an example in digital transformation, the former Provincial Ethnic Committee, now the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions, and the bank supported the opening of free ATM cards and provided instructions on safe use. Every month, when I receive a text message, I know that the allowance has been deposited into my account, instead of having to go to a state agency to sign and receive it directly. When I see prestigious people among ethnic minorities over 60 years old using ATM cards and transferring money clearly, people around me also boldly learn and use it. At the same time, with calls impersonating authorities to scam, because they have been trained, ethnic minorities know how to prevent: do not listen, do not believe, do not follow.”

To help prestigious people in ethnic minorities, village elders and ethnic minorities effectively implement digital transformation and use social networks safely, according to Mr. Tho Ut, Deputy Director of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions, National Assembly delegate of Dong Nai province: In the coming time, consulting, training and direct guidance activities on digital transformation will be carried out by competent agencies to help people better apply digital transformation to life safely, increasing the effectiveness of connection between the Party, government and ethnic minorities.

Mr. Hoang Van Thai (Dao ethnic group), a prestigious person among the ethnic minorities in Hamlet 6, added: In the past, every time he went to the field at the edge of the forest about 5km from his house, his phone lost signal. To contact each other, he could only run from the field back home or run near the main road to catch the signal. Now, even though he is sitting in a hut guarding the field in the middle of the forest, he opens the newspaper on his phone to read comfortably and listen to music online. Although accessing information is easy, he and his fellow villagers always remind each other to choose to read on official news sites and be wary of bad, toxic, and provocative content.

Literature

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/chuyen-doi-so/202508/chuyen-doi-so-trong-vung-dong-bao-dan-toc-thieu-so-1fd248e/