The central city of Da Nang and FPT, a Vietnamese software giant, inked on April 19 a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on building Da Nang as a ‘smart city’ for the 2018-20 period.

Local residents search public procedure online at Da Nang’s Administrative centre.

The MoU will help the city develop smart solutions in traffic, agriculture, English language training, health care and tourism.

The two sides also agreed to complete online service in traffic and agriculture to boost connection between the city’s administration and local residents, as well as to promote transparency in administrative procedure.

As planned, FPT will invest 15 billion VND (664,000 USD) to build pilot projects with smart applications in 2018-19.

Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, Ho Ky Minh, said the MoU would help Da Nang improve administrative reform and transparency for local people, businesses and tourists, and build Da Nang as a ‘liveable’ city in the near future.

He said the city’s e-government system, which was launched in 2014, had been used by 225 agencies and 4,000 users. About 50 percent of public procedures were also posted online.

He said Da Nang’s IT infrastructure was now available for smart connections among air control, water, garbage, meteorology, and energy agencies. It could also provide earthquake and tsunami warnings, and data on flooding, erosion, sewage management, and bridges.

The city will be ready for 4G LTE (Long-Term Evolution) this year.

Free wireless internet (wifi) services, with a maximum of 20,000 connections, was also offered for local residents and tourists at major centres and streets in the city, including living quarters, tourist sites, schools, beaches, hospitals,  and shopping malls, alongside bus and railway stations, airports and entertainment centres.

The central city had provided 1,196 online administration procedures, including one-stop shops, residential management, public transport and water supervision through the e-government system.

FPT, who started investment in the city from 2004, has so far employed 2,000 IT engineers from Da Nang to work for the company’s software export department.

In 2016, FPT debuted its IT Service Centre, the FPT Complex in Da Nang. It is the biggest IT service centre in central Vietnam, providing office space for 10,000 IT engineers and 3,200 other employees.

Da Nang plans to become a ‘smart city’ by 2020 and a ‘green city’ by 2025. - VNA