Clean data - Bright trust: Removing bottlenecks in Dien Bien

Multi-period data, scattered records

Dien Bien Phu ward is in the peak phase of the 90-day campaign to enrich and cleanse the land-database system. At this time, ward and commune officials, neighborhood groups, land administration officers and police are all involved, checking household records one by one, entering each person’s information and verifying land-ownership data. Although the campaign is in its final sprint, inherent challenges of a mountainous locality remain striking, especially technological infrastructure, staffing capacity and inconsistent historical data.

Currently, Dien Bien Phu ward has collected more than 7,400 out of 11,451 land-record files, entered over 3,200, scanned 2,493, and handed over nearly 1,000 completed dossiers, yet the workload ahead remains extensive and highly complex.

According to Ms. Duong Thi Minh Diu, Director of the Land Registration Office under the Dien Bien Department of Agriculture and Environment, land records in Dien Bien Phu ward include many plots that have changed ownership through several generations without updates, making it extremely difficult to identify the current land user. Many land-use certificates were issued decades ago, and the original documents are now scattered across various administrative units after multiple rounds of division, merger or restructuring. Some files require searching across 3 to 4 different sources, sometimes taking an entire day. Land data from different periods are stored in inconsistent formats, posing significant challenges for retrieval.

In addition, people participating in the campaign is limited. In many high-mountain communes, only 1 or 2 land-administration officers must handle large workloads: collecting records, verification, data standardization, data entry, scanning and reporting. Equipment such as scanners or computers with adequate capacity is still lacking; some places must share a single machine and work in shifts until late at night.

Members of the Provincial Steering Committee’s task force, during their field inspection in Dien Bien Phu ward, identified clear bottlenecks: weak technological infrastructure, shortage of technical personnel and lack of synchronized data. This is not only a ward-level issue but a common challenge across many remote areas of Dien Bien.

In mountainous communes such as Muong Nhe, Nam Ke, Pu Nhung, or Pa Ham, where the project “Boundary identification, measurement, cadastral mapping, certificate issuance and construction of cadastral databases for land originating from former state-owned agricultural and forestry farms” is being implemented, the challenges are even greater. Transportation is difficult, the terrain covers tens of thousands of hectares, and the population is scattered. Internet connectivity is unstable; some villages barely have 4G reception, causing disruptions in uploading forms, syncing data or transmitting information to the central system.

Land originating from former state-owned farms has undergone multiple administrative phases. Boundaries between organizations, households, and state agencies remain unclear in many areas, requiring extremely meticulous coordination during measurement, demarcation, registration and certificate issuance. The VND 75-billion project implemented in 12 communes during 2025 - 2026 plays a crucial role in resolving these long-standing bottlenecks.

Ms. Diu adds that the biggest challenge is not only the workload but the shortage of personnel proficient in both land administration procedures and information technology. In many communes, officers must teach themselves each step. Without proper training and dedicated equipment, the pace of building the land-database system will not meet requirements.

She also emphasizes the core principle of the campaign: “Data must be accurate - complete - clean - live”. Accurate for legal validity; complete for management; clean to eliminate errors; live to ensure continuous updates based on real-time changes.

To achieve these criteria, strong support policies are needed for grassroots units, which directly handle all initial data.

A comprehensive strategy and stronger resources are essential

At recent inspections and meetings, Mr. Le Thanh Do, Chairman of the Dien Bien Provincial People’s Committee, repeatedly stressed: “We must not chase achievements, we must do real work; real data that truly serves the people and enterprises”. He affirmed that the land-database system is not merely a resource-management tool but the foundation for administrative reform, investment attraction, and digital transformation in the land sector. If data is inaccurate, the entire system will operate ineffectively.

Mr. Do stated that the 90-day campaign is a necessary start, but for wards and especially remote communes to complete their tasks, the province must adopt a long-term investment strategy: upgrading digital infrastructure, improving storage and transmission capacity, increasing specialized staffing, and building a technically competent land-administration workforce.

“We cannot rely entirely on grassroots officials when they lack equipment, network infrastructure, and manpower. The province will consider allocating more financial resources and directing the relevant departments to design mobile technical-support teams to assist communes facing severe difficulties”, he said.

Currently, Dien Bien Phu ward and the communes participating in the new measurement and cadastral-mapping project have proposed several key needs: high-performance computers and high-speed scanners for commune-level offices; stable Internet connectivity to remote villages; at least 2 - 3 trained officers per commune in land administration and IT; a mechanism for data-sharing coordination among police, land-registration offices, resource-management agencies and local authorities to handle historical land-use changes quickly; and standardized data-formatting tools to minimize errors, avoid duplication, missing entries or wrong formats.

These proposals are not subjective wishes; they are essential conditions for developing a synchronized land-database system connected to the national platform, as required by the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

Towards a modern and transparent land-database system

The project “Boundary identification, measurement, cadastral mapping, certificate issuance and construction of cadastral databases for land originating from state-owned farms” in 12 communes is only one part of the broader digital-transformation landscape of Dien Bien’s land-sector reform. Once boundaries are clearly defined, cadastral maps standardized, records digitized, and data regularly updated, the province will gain a solid foundation for planning, settlement arrangements, agricultural development and investment attraction.

The 90-day campaign also helps localities identify their staffing and infrastructure shortcomings, enabling them to plan appropriately for long-term investment. As Chairman Le Thanh Do affirmed, Dien Bien is determined to build a modern, transparent land-database system that effectively serves citizens and businesses. This is both an urgent and long-term mission, requiring decisive action and adequate resources.

The efforts of Dien Bien Phu ward and remote communes may represent only a small portion of a larger mission, but they demonstrate the province’s strong ambition for digital transformation. With the guidance of provincial leaders and the support of various departments, Dien Bien is steadily overcoming obstacles, progressing toward a land-database system that is accurate, complete, clean, and live, laying the foundation for modern governance and sustainable development.