Hanoi will invest 900 billion VND (43 million USD) to accelerate IT application in its administrative agencies in 2012-15, according to the city's Department of Information and Communications.

The cash will be allocated to develop IT infrastructure, applications, training and IT management, the department said.
The project, which will integrate information and data, will help synchronise and connect all city administrative agencies and networks.

Practically, all of those working in the sector will be equipped with PCs while 70 percent of the staff in districts and towns will have access to PCs.

Meanwhile, in the 2014-2015 period, the city will build an e-government platform which will enable administrative agencies to carry out 50 percent of meetings and conferences online (internet conferencing).

In addition, most of the city's agencies will apply an e-signature in 2015.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, Vietnam has made great strides in recent years in applying IT to public administrative activities.

To date, 96.6 percent of ministries and sectors have established their own websites, all 63 provinces and cities have e-portals, and 83.6 percent of information related to Government and central agency policies is posted on the Internet.-VNA