The virtual assistant is designed to promptly address questions that remain unclear, such as the authority of civil servants and the responsibilities of management levels.

Two-tier local government model officially launched

As of July 1, Vietnam’s two-tier local government model is being uniformly implemented nationwide, impacting nearly 1.5 million officials and civil servants across communes, wards, provinces, and municipalities. To support this workforce, the National Digital Transformation Agency under the Ministry of Science and Technology, in collaboration with Viettel’s Data Services and Artificial Intelligence Center (Viettel AI), has developed a Virtual assistant for civil servants.

Virtual assistant for civil servants

The Virtual assistant for civil servants is built on standardized data sourced from 28 decrees, covering 19 sectors and enabling lookup of 2,700 tasks. This tool was introduced to 1.5 million civil servants during the training conference on the organization and operation of the two-tier local government model held in mid-June.

24/7 access, multi-platform, and optimized user experience

The Virtual assistant for civil servants is accessible around the clock on various devices, including computers, smartphones, and tablets. Instead of manually searching, civil servants simply enter their queries directly into the assistant, which then delivers clear, job-relevant answers along with references to the corresponding legal documents.

For example, when asked, “What are the commune-level responsibilities in vaccination management?”, conventional search engines would return millions of unsorted results. In contrast, the Virtual Assistant provides precise information with specific legal citations.

Decentralized management according to new regulations

Under the Ministry of Science and Technology’s remit, from July 1, commune-level People’s Committees will oversee state management of product and goods quality and the investment in IT applications funded by state budgets within their authority.

In telecommunications, the issuance, amendment, supplementation, renewal, and extension of licenses for fixed terrestrial telecommunications services will be managed by the Provincial People’s Committee where businesses are headquartered.

Regarding intellectual property, the recognition of organizations meeting conditions for industrial property representation services will also be handled at the Provincial People’s Committee.

“Civil servants no longer need to spend time flipping through pages of decrees or searching for answers from colleagues. They simply type their questions, and the virtual assistant will instantly deliver the information,” the development team stated.

Virtual assistant to be continuously updated

A Viettel AI representative noted that the assistant will be regularly updated with new regulations and administrative procedures, fully reflecting delegated authorities. In the near future, the assistant will expand its knowledge base to cover legal documents, tasks, targets, data, workflows, and internal agency records.

Beyond its lookup function, the assistant will also automate certain administrative tasks, paving the way for an open e-government platform and the development of a digital operations ecosystem.

AI Virtual assistant development led by the Ministry of Science and Technology

The task of building an AI-powered virtual assistant to help citizens and officials search for and resolve administrative procedure issues during the administrative restructuring was assigned to the Ministry of Science and Technology by the Government’s Steering Committee on Administrative Unit Reorganization and Two-Tier Local Government Model Implementation, under an official dispatch dated June 4.

After the restructuring, Vietnam now has 34 provincial-level administrative units and 3,321 commune-level units. District-level administration has been discontinued, replaced by a two-tier local government system comprising provincial and grassroots levels.

Source: Trọng Đạt (VnExpress)