Twitter defines the “master blueprint” for a digital nation

(Dan Tri) - The overall digital national architecture framework is expected to create a "common language" to help agencies invest in infrastructure, build data and digital systems according to the same principles.

On July 29, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 1425/QD-TTg on the National Overall Architecture Framework version 1.0.

This is an architectural framework at the national level, serving as a common standard for agencies in the political system to build or update their digital architectural frameworks.

It is impossible to build a digital nation with systems that lack connection and synchronization

At the regular August press conference of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ms. Mai Thuy Ngan, Director of the Center for Technology - Digital Government, National Digital Transformation Agency, said that the need for a common architecture comes from the fact that a digital nation cannot be formed from many separate digital systems.

Ms. Mai Thuy Ngan, Director of Center for Technology - Digital Government, National Digital Transformation Agency (Photo: Ministry of Science and Technology).

If each agency invests in its own system, platform and database, resources are at risk of being scattered, with many components duplicated and difficult to inherit. Data between units is also difficult to connect and share, leading to a situation where people and businesses may have to re-provide information that State agencies already have.

Another consequence is that it is difficult to determine the actual effectiveness of digital transformation when monitoring and evaluation activities still rely heavily on manual reporting.

Therefore, the overall digital national architecture framework was built to create a "common language" and unified principles, so that agencies can jointly design, invest, share and operate the system. Each agency still builds its own digital architecture framework based on functions, tasks and authority, but must comply with the same structure, principles and interoperability requirements.

The overall digital national architecture framework aims to connect and share data between systems, helping people use digital services more conveniently and limit the need to re-declare existing information (Photo: Nam Anh).

Digital architecture frameworks are organized in a model of 4 architectural layers and 4 cross-cutting components.

The four layers include digital infrastructure and network security respectively; core data and platforms; shared applications and operations; engagement and measurement channels. This structure creates conditions for different architectures to be compared, connected and shared nationwide.

In addition, there are cross-cutting requirements for administration, coordination and supervision; general standards and regulations; Data-Centric and AI First approach.

One of the notable changes in Decision No. 1425/QD-TTg is to establish architectural standards at the national level, and at the same time set out the principle of prioritizing the use of shared components.

Accordingly, when there is a suitable infrastructure, platform, data or shared digital service at the national or local level, agencies need to prioritize inheriting, standardizing, integrating and upgrading existing components before considering investing in a new system.

New construction is only required when there are no shared components or the current components do not meet the necessary requirements to limit duplicate investments, while helping systems be designed from the beginning with connectivity and sharing capabilities.

The second new point is directly related to how a number system is formed. The architectural framework identifies data as a strategic asset that underpins governance, operations, service delivery and decision making.

Accordingly, data needs to be standardized, connected, shared and used consistently. The viewpoint is that data must be "correct, complete, clean, and live", instead of existing in separate data warehouses between agencies.

In addition, the AI ​​First principle allows agencies to research and consider applying AI to appropriate processes for analysis, prediction and automation, but does not replace human responsibility and final decisions.

The overall digital national architecture framework will be directly linked to the governance and investment process, instead of just serving as a technical reference document. Decision No. 1425/QD-TTg sets requirements for architectural compliance throughout the entire life cycle of the project, from planning, appraisal, approval to investment, upgrading and system operation.

Agencies need to review the current situation, identify suitable, unsuitable, scattered or duplicated components, then build a roadmap for inheritance, integration, consolidation, upgrading or replacement when really necessary.

Along with that, the digital national management system built and operated by the Ministry of Science and Technology will serve to update, monitor and supervise architecture nationwide.

The KPI set of indicators is expected to move the assessment of digital transformation from qualitative statements to quantifiable, measurable and verifiable results, prioritizing automatic data retrieval from systems instead of manual reporting.

According to Decision No. 1425/QD-TTg, within no more than 6 months from July 29, 2026, agencies and organizations must complete new construction or review, update and promulgate their digital architecture framework.