Operating two-level local government: Ministry of Science and Technology proactively goes to localities to remove difficulties

On August 25, 2025, Working Group No. 2 of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) worked with the Department of Science and Technology of Son La province, the People's Committee of Chieng Coi ward and the Provincial Public Administration Center on the implementation of two-level local government operations to grasp the situation and support localities to promptly remove obstacles, especially in performing tasks that have been decentralized, delegated, and assigned authority under the state management of the MOST, promoting the effectiveness of state management of S&T at the local level.

Chieng Coi Ward: Digital transformation from the grassroots, people benefit the most

According to the report of the People's Committee of Chieng Coi Ward, from July 1, 2025, the Chieng Coi Ward Public Administration Service Center ( Son La City) officially operated, bringing about clear changes in the settlement of procedures for people. After just over a month of operation, the Center has welcomed more than 790 citizens to transact procedures, received 785 records in 5 fields, with the on-time settlement rate reaching over 95%. Notably, 225 procedures have been provided with full online public services, helping people easily submit records, look up progress and receive results.

The delegation of the Ministry of Science and Technology exchanged and listened to opinions at the Public Administration Service Center - People's Committee of Chieng Coi Ward

Staff of Chieng Coi Ward Public Administration Center serve people using public services

In addition, Chieng Coi has established a Technology and Professional Response Team to support the settlement of administrative procedures in the ward and has implemented a number of contents, such as: Guiding people to use online public services, install and use applications such as VNeID, submit documents online, make online payments; Answer questions about processes, documents, and administrative procedures; Provide "hand-holding" support so that people can complete procedures quickly and accurately; Handle arising situations and technical problems during the procedure settlement process, not to interrupt the work of people and businesses.

The People's Committee of Chieng Coi Ward has also established 39 community digital technology groups with 386 members to promote and disseminate knowledge about digital transformation and support people in using online public services.

The "Digital Literacy for All" movement was also deployed, opening training classes for cadres, party cell secretaries, and village chiefs to spread digital skills to each household.

However, besides the achievements, Chieng Coi also faces some difficulties and shortcomings, such as: Electronic authentication has not been implemented, tax and land registration connection still has some problems, some IT equipment is old, Internet connection is sometimes unstable; 11 residential areas still have "wave lag" in broadband.

Next, the working delegation of the Ministry of Science and Technology worked at the Provincial Public Administration Service Center, which had just been reorganized based on the merger with the Administrative Procedure Control Department. Currently, the Center has a Deputy Chief of the Provincial People's Committee Office who is also the Director, a Deputy Director, 5 staff members and a team of civil servants and public employees from 12 departments and branches, and three vertical units such as Tax, Electricity, and Post Office participating in receiving and returning results to people and businesses.

Delegation of Ministry of Science and Technology surveyed and worked at Son La Provincial Public Administration Center

According to the Center's report, by August 15, 2025, Son La had completed the announcement, disclosure, and update of 2,114 procedures on the National Database, including 1,727 provincial-level procedures and 387 commune-level procedures. 100% of procedures were announced, disclosed, and updated according to regulations.

However, in Son La, the number of certified records is very large compared to other fields, so the rate of records resolving online public services in the province is still low (36.8%).

Directly remove obstacles and difficulties for localities

On the same afternoon, after surveying and working at the People's Committee of Chieng Coi Ward, the Public Administration Center of Son La province and receiving proposals and recommendations from the locality, the working delegation worked with the Department of Science and Technology of Son La province and representatives of relevant departments, branches and sectors.

Overview of the working session of the Ministry of Science and Technology delegation with the Department of Science and Technology of Son La province

At the meeting, Ms. Pham Thi Doan, Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Son La province, raised a number of difficulties and problems and proposed a number of recommendations to effectively operate the two-level local government model.

Specifically, some administrative procedures are not yet consistent between the National Public Service Portal and internal processes; data exploitation from ministries and branches is not smooth; many new decentralized procedures in the field of quality measurement standards lack data, causing difficulties for localities, etc.

Mr. Le Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of the National Digital Transformation Department, Head of the Working Group, spoke at the working session.

Regarding digital transformation, the province has not yet issued instructions for the commune level because it is waiting for a decree to replace Decree 73/2019/ND-CP. The Provincial People's Committee recommends that the Ministry of Science and Technology soon complete the legal framework, issue a new set of district and commune assessment indicators, replicate the reporting system of Resolution 57, and promptly deploy online training courses on artificial intelligence.

Ms. Pham Thi Doan - Director of Department of Science and Technology of Son La

In the infrastructure sector, the implementation of radio frequency procedures is facing difficulties due to lack of human resources, measuring equipment, and inappropriate software; the province requested the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Department of Telecommunications to direct 4G/5G coverage to 100% of villages and hamlets by 2025.

Some procedures for establishing domestic and foreign science and technology organizations still overlap between Decree 133/2025/ND-CP and documents of the Ministry, and need to be reviewed and adjusted soon. In the field of measurement and quality of goods and products, commune-level officials are not qualified to perform, the province recommends that the Ministry strengthen training and decentralize more strongly.

The Provincial People's Committee also proposed to remove obstacles in connecting the province's administrative procedure settlement system with the database of ministries and branches; at the same time, there are appropriate assessment instructions to not include mandatory files submitted directly in the online rate, reflecting the actual implementation.

At the meeting, representatives of specialized units of the Ministry of Science and Technology directly answered each request and guided the province to remove obstacles in the fields of intellectual property, quality measurement standards, digital transformation, radio frequency management, and mobile signal depression removal. The working group also shared many practical experiences from other localities, suggested implementation solutions suitable to the specific conditions of Son La, and affirmed that the Ministry will continue to accompany and support to ensure the effective and smooth operation of the two-level government, best serving the people and businesses.

The delegation of the Ministry of Science and Technology took a souvenir photo with the Department of Science and Technology of Son La.

Source: https://mst.gov.vn/van-hanh-chinh-quyen-dia-phuong-hai-cap-bo-khoa-hoc-va-cong-nghe-chu-dong-ve-dia-phuong-go-kho-197250826125936149.htm