The Status of Digital Transformation in State Land Administration in Ninh Binh Province, Vietnam

Digital transformation is reshaping public administration worldwide, and Vietnam has placed it at the core of its national development strategy. Land administration – which in Vietnam is state managed and central to economic and social planning – is a key sector targeted for digitalization. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of the current status of digital transformation in state land administration in Ninh Binh Province. Drawing on official policy documents, government reports, development publications, and academic sources, we examine (i) the general framework of land administration in Vietnam and Ninh Binh’s administrative structure, (ii) relevant national and provincial policies on digital land management, (iii) the province’s digital infrastructure and land information systems, (iv) the degree of digitization in land related public services (such as land registration and cadastral mapping), (v) human resource capacity and inter agency coordination, and (vi) key challenges and barriers. We also compare Ninh Binh’s experience with other provinces and international best practices. Our findings show that Ninh Binh has made notable progress – including deploying 15 digital platforms and a public open data portal – but still faces gaps in IT infrastructure, data completeness, and skilled personnel. We conclude with recommendations to strengthen land data integration, improve service delivery (e.g. e registration), build human capacity, and foster coordination across agencies to fully realize a digital land administration.