The government of Vietnam has approved an ambitious National Data Center Project. It passed Resolution 175/NQ-CP in Hanoi recently to kickstart the project that was the result of the government’s push for greater access to e-governance services for citizens, as well as necessitated by local regulations surrounding data sovereignty.
Vietnam, home to over 98 Million people, is one of South East Asia’s most promising emerging economies. The country’s digital economy is growing and it aims to become fully digital by 2030. This means, close to one billion people, who are already producing and consuming record amounts of data, will need bigger, safer, more reliable and robust digital infrastructure. This is what makes the National Data Center Project significant.
What is the National Data Center Project?
Broadly speaking, the National Data Center Project will develop a national data center that will store Vietnam’s government data. It will be built, operated and managed by the government. According to the Resolution 175/NQ-CP, that was passed in Hanoi recently, the project will “ensure consistency and synchronization with the development of national databases and the national digital transformation process, in accordance with the e-Government architecture, contributing to building and developing the Digital Government, digital economy and digital society.”
The Resolution call the National Data Center “an important pillar serving the national digital transformation process”, and aims to make it “a place to gather information and data from national databases and become a center for integrating, synchronizing, storing, sharing and coordinating information”.
What kind of data will be collected?
Types of data that will be collected and stored here include population data, insurance, health and social security, education and training. It will also keep records of civil servants, public employees, identification, etc. as well as data pertaining to civil status, financial activities, and other activities from national databases, databases of ministries, branches, localities and other databases. The objective is to enable the government to use collected and synchronized data to simplify administrative procedures and improve the service of state agencies to people and businesses.
Where will the National Data Center be built and when?
The first National Data Center (NDC 1) will be built at the Hoa Lac High Tech Park in Hanoi City. It will have a total construction area of about 150,000 square meters. It will be built in line with all international safety and environmental norms. At least two more such data centers will be built subsequently, but details about them have not been shared so far. The entire project construction is likely to be completed by 2025, and the government hopes to deploy in-depth data analysis from 2026. By 2030, the government hopes that over 90% of administrative activities of exchanging and coordinating information provision between state agencies will be replaced by sharing digital data from aggregated data warehouses in the National Data Center. According to the Resolution, funding sources for implementing the Project include state budget sources, but the amount has not been specified.
Overview of Vietnam’s data center industry
According to a report by Mordor Intelligence, Vietnam Data Center Market is projected to register a CAGR of 8.84 per cent by 2029. Hanoi and Ho Chi Mihn City are the two main locations for data centers in the country. According to the same report, the data centers in the region are majorly tier 3 facilities with a gradual inclination toward tier 4 DC standards.
Meanwhile, Arizton Advisory and Intelligence valued Vietnam’s data center market size at US$ 561 Million in 2022, and projects that it would grow to US$ 1,037 Million by 2028, growing at a Compounded Average Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.78 per cent.
