Son La Department of Agriculture and Environment is focusing on promoting digital transformation, initially implementing e-government, online public services... Striving to complete the specialized digital database system by 2030, synchronize and fully digitize, meeting the digital transformation roadmap of the province and the whole country.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment and VNPT Son La signed a cooperation agreement with VNPT Son La on digital transformation for the period 2025 - 2030.

Keeping up with digital transformation

Determining digital transformation as an inevitable trend, in recent times, the sector has coordinated with telecommunications units to organize seminars and training courses for cadres, civil servants and public employees; promoting the application of information technology in various fields. Currently, the Department has established a Digital Transformation Center with 15 staff and contracts, which is the focal point for implementing digital transformation tasks. 100% of cadres and civil servants are equipped with computers; internal network systems and technology equipment, basically meeting work requirements.

In addition, agricultural data is currently updated periodically on specialized platforms such as: monitoring and evaluation systems serving industry management (giamsatdanhgia.mard.gov.vn); agricultural statistics (thongke.mard.gov.vn); animal disease management (vahis.vn); aquatic disease reports (tytscucthuy.sabi.vn); database of growing area codes, export packaging facilities (msvt-csdg.ppd.gov.vn, cms.packinghouse.online, farmdiary.online).

Bich Thao Coffee Cooperative (Hua La commune, Son La city) has 66 members, managing a production area of ​​more than 60 hectares certified by VietGAP, UTZ and RA. The cooperative also cooperates with hundreds of coffee growing households in Son La city, Mai Son, Thuan Chau, Phu Yen, forming a raw material area of ​​thousands of hectares to produce specialty coffee. The production process is strictly controlled according to the chain, ensuring transparency and food safety; 100% of products are consumed through contracts at stable prices. Products after preliminary processing and packaging are affixed with QR codes to trace their origin and have been exported to the EU, Korea, Japan, the US, etc.

Officers, civil servants and public employees of the Department of Agriculture and Environment process documents online.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thao, Director of Bich Thao Coffee Cooperative in Son La, said: The Cooperative has applied digital technology to production management such as building a website, putting products on e-commerce platforms, sticking electronic stamps against counterfeit goods; deploying an electronic traceability system. Implementing irrigation control by smartphone to save costs and ensure nutrition for crops. BHL Son La Agricultural Products Processing Joint Stock Company links production with environmental protection by installing an automatic monitoring system, surveillance cameras directly connected to the Department of Agriculture and Environment to monitor the collection and treatment of waste from cassava starch processing. Ms. Chu Thi Thu Hang, Deputy Director of the Company, informed: The Company promotes digital transformation, applying software for managing records, accounting, production monitoring and wastewater treatment. This helps improve production efficiency, reduce labor costs, and at the same time create favorable conditions for functional agencies to monitor and support businesses in operating environmental treatment systems more effectively.

The application of technology is focused on by the industry, with effective document management and operation software; 100% of outgoing and incoming documents are processed via the network environment, digitally signed by agencies and individual leaders, contributing to improving the quality of management and operation.

Software serving state management in the Agriculture and Environment sector has been deployed in a number of areas: Land management uses Vietbando software; the environment uses environmental management software and Envisoft to monitor automatic and continuous monitoring data; water resources have their own management software; hydrometeorology uses QGIS to monitor forest changes.

Identifying bottlenecks
Mr. Phung Kim Son, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Son La, said: In the period of 2020 - 2025, the industry has begun to implement digital transformation but is still limited due to the lack of IT human resources. The number of specialized personnel in digital transformation and information security is less than 1% of the total payroll, so it is difficult to operate the system.

Digital infrastructure has been initially invested with 100% of cadres and civil servants having computers, the internal network has been upgraded. However, a shared data platform and a centralized data center have not been built. Current servers mainly serve individual storage for each field; the database is still scattered and lacks connectivity. Some databases such as land, environment, water resources, forests, etc. have been initially formed but only serve internally, have not exploited data value or integrated interconnection. Other databases such as minerals, geography, cultivation, livestock, aquaculture, etc. have not been built.

The Department of Agriculture and Environment coordinated to organize a training conference on environmental communication skills for officials of the industry and localities in the North.

Some data are currently being provided periodically on specialized platforms such as: Agricultural monitoring and evaluation database (giamsatdanhgia.mard.gov.vn); Animal disease management system (vahis.vn); Database of codes for growing areas and export packaging facilities (farmdiary.online)...

According to Mr. Phung Kim Son, the Son La Agriculture and Environment sector is still in the early stages of digital transformation, although it has taken initial steps such as implementing e-government and online public services. However, the sector still lacks digital databases, technology human resources are weak, and the application of modern technology is limited. This is a big challenge, requiring the entire sector to be more determined to keep up with the digital transformation roadmap of the province and the country.

Comprehensive cooperation
According to Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has prioritized the transformation of agricultural production methods towards sustainability, environmental protection, efficient use of resources and adaptation to climate change; at the same time, promoting the role of farmers as the subject of development, associated with innovation in production organization and modern rural construction.

In mid-May 2025, the Department of Agriculture and Environment coordinated with Son La Telecommunications to organize a workshop to promote digital transformation in the Agriculture and Environment sector. Here, representatives of the Center for Land and Environmental Resources Solutions (VNPT Group) introduced the overall digital transformation architecture and demonstrated core technology platforms such as: geospatial data infrastructure, remote sensing technology, GeoAI for forecasting and early warning in the fields of agriculture and environment.

Concentrated coffee processing facilities in Muong Chanh commune, Mai Son district, have installed surveillance cameras in the processing, collection and wastewater treatment areas.

Within the framework of the workshop, VNPT Son La and the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Son La signed a memorandum of understanding on digital transformation cooperation for the period 2025 - 2030. Accordingly, VNPT Son La committed to accompany in surveying, consulting on planning, building digital transformation models, piloting software, developing synchronous and interconnected databases, suitable for the reality of the province's agriculture and environment sector. The two sides agreed to coordinate in organizing training and education on digital transformation for IT officials and experts; at the same time, popularizing digital skills for people, businesses and cooperatives in the fields of agriculture and environment.

By 2030, the Son La Department of Agriculture and Environment aims to build a specialized digital database system on land, agriculture, irrigation, forests, environment, biodiversity, etc. that is fully digitized, regularly updated and interconnected with the national database.

The Department of Agriculture and Environment will develop an AI-integrated Information Portal, supporting big data analysis for effective management and operation. At the same time, apply remote sensing technology and unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor land and minerals; build a GIS spatial data infrastructure integrating cadastral maps, planning, crop areas, landslide areas, etc.

Along with that, promote the development of smart agriculture, encourage the application of digital technology such as automatic irrigation, microclimate sensors, traceability software, etc. Aiming to build 1 high-tech agricultural zone and 24 high-tech agricultural zones, increasing the proportion of high-tech agricultural value to 30-40% of the entire industry.