Illustrative image

Digital Data – The Foundation of Modern Social Security Governance

In the process of national digital transformation, data is no longer merely a tool for information storage; it has become a strategic resource for modern governance. Standardized, interconnected, and effectively utilized data will enhance the quality of policymaking and governance while enabling citizens and businesses to access public services more quickly and conveniently.

In social security, data plays a particularly important role in the implementation of policies on social insurance (SI), health insurance (HI), unemployment insurance (UI), social assistance, preferential treatment for people with meritorious services to the revolution, poverty reduction, and child welfare. Data quality not only determines the effectiveness of governance but also ensures accurate beneficiary identification, precise, timely, and transparent benefit payments.

To establish a unified data platform for the administration and implementation of social security policies, on 25 May 2017, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 708/QD-TTg approving the Scheme on the Development of the National Social Security Database and the application of information technology to the implementation of social security policies through 2020, with orientations toward 2030. The Scheme aims to simplify administrative procedures, reduce citizens' paperwork, and improve the quality of online public service delivery.

After nearly a decade of implementation, many ministries and sectors have developed and put into operation national databases and sectoral databases to support public management. In the social security sector, in addition to the National Population Database (NPD), a number of  sector-specific databases have gradually been completed, including databases on SI, HI, and UI participants and beneficiaries managed by Vietnam Social Security (VSS), as well as databases on people with meritorious services to the revolution, social assistance beneficiaries, children, poor households, and near-poor households. These constitute important data resources, providing the foundation for the transition from traditional administration to digital governance.

However, these databases have largely been developed separately by sector and field, and a unified mechanism for data connectivity and sharing has yet to be established. The fragmentation of data has created significant challenges for data utilization, reconciliation, and information verification among government agencies. Citizens are still required to repeatedly provide the same information when carrying out administrative procedures, thereby reducing the effectiveness of administrative reform and digital transformation in the social security sector.

The need to establish a unified data platform has become even more urgent following the issuance of Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW dated 22 December 2024 by the Politburo on breakthroughs in the development of science, technology, innovation, and national digital transformation. The Resolution identifies data as one of the key priorites of national digital transformation, alongside institutions, human resources, digital infrastructure, and strategic technologies. Subsequently, Plan No. 02-KH/BCDTW dated 19 June 2025 of the Central Steering Committee for Science, Technology, Innovation, and Digital Transformation identified data development as one of the key priority tasks and required the standardization and interconnection of critical databases, as well as the establishment of shared platforms to support digital transformation across the entire political system. On 23 June 2026, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 11/2026/QD-TTg promulgating the List of National Databases, under which the National Social Security Database (NSSD) was designated as one of the country's 12 national databases. This demonstrates that the development of the NSSD is intended not merely to digitize information but to establish an interoperable data platform serving multiple objectives in governance and public service delivery. It will provide an important foundation for further administrative procedure reform, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of state governance, and progressively building a modern, people-centered digital social security ecosystem.

Unlocking the Value of Data in the Implementation of Social Security Policies

The effectiveness of the NSSD depends on the standardization, interconnection and synchronized sharing of sectoral databases. Among these, the databases on SI, HI, and UI managed by VSS represent one of the largest and most frequently updated data resources, playing a pivotal role within the social security data ecosystem.

In implementing the national digital transformation agenda and the Government's Project 06, VSS has, in recent years, focused on developing a centralized database covering participants and beneficiaries of SI, HI, and UI policies, while strengthening connectivity with the NPD and the databases and information systems of ministries and sectors. This serves as an important foundation for enhancing governance effectiveness, advancing administrative procedure reform, and improving service quality for citizens.

As of the end of June 2026, VSS had authenticated more than 100.2 million citizen records in the database managed by VSS with the NPD. This represents a significant milestone in data standardization based on the personal identification number (PIN), contributing to improved data quality and establishing a solid foundation for data connectivity, sharing, and utilization among government agencies. At the same time, it helps eliminate the need for citizens to repeatedly declare or submit information that is already available in government databases when carrying out administrative procedures.

Building on this standardized data platform, a wide range of digital utilities has been deployed, delivering tangible benefits to citizens. To date, 100% of health insurance-contracted healthcare facilities nationwide have implemented patient admission using chip-based Citizen Identity Cards (ID cards) or through the VNeID electronic identification application. In the first six months of 2026 alone, the HI Claim Review System processed more than 405.3 million health insurance card verification requests using personal ID numbers or ID Cards, thereby shortening administrative processing time, reducing paperwork, and improving service quality for health insurance participants.

Beyond facilitating patient admission, HI data has also been effectively leveraged in the development of the digital healthcare ecosystem. By the end of June 2026, the HI Claim Review System had received more than 692.8 million healthcare records from medical facilities nationwide and successfully processed over 265.7 million information queries to support the integration of electronic health records, referral forms, and follow-up appointment notices into the VNeID application. These achievements have strengthened data interoperability between the social security & health sectors, laying the groundwork for expanding digital services in support of healthcare delivery for citizens.

The effectiveness of digital transformation is also clearly reflected in administrative procedure reform. During the first six months of 2026, VSS  received and processed more than 12.17 million administrative procedure dossiers, of which over 82% were submitted through electronic transactions. The expansion of online public services has not only reduced the time and costs associated with administrative procedures for citizens and businesses but has also enhanced transparency, accountability, and efficiency in policy implementation.

By the end of June 2026, the country had 22.23 million SI participants, 17.56 million UI participants, and 98.68 million HI participants. With nearly 100 million individuals participating in and benefiting from social security policies, the database managed by VSS has become one of the largest sectoral databases in the country, continuously updated through the implementation of social security policies. It constitutes a critical data resource for connectivity and sharing with the NPD as well as other national and sectoral databases, thereby contributing to the development of the NSSD in line with the Government's strategic direction.

It can be affirmed that the digital transformation achievements of VSS in recent years have clearly demonstrated the value of standardized, interconnected, and effectively utilized data. They also provide an important practical foundation for the deployment of the NSSD, contributing to more effective implementation of social security policies, promoting administrative reform, and building a modern digital social security system.

Completing the Legal Framework for the Social Security Data Ecosystem

In implementing the Party's and the Government's policies on data development to support national digital transformation, while making effective use of existing databases in the social security sector, improving the legal framework governing data management, connectivity, sharing, and utilization is of critical importance. This will provide the foundation for establishing a unified, synchronized, and modern social security data ecosystem.

On this basis, the Ministry of Home Affairs is developing the Draft Decree on the NSSD to establish a unified legal basis for the development, management, operation, connectivity, sharing, utilization, and use of the NSSD, while also providing detailed provisions to implement the Law on Data and other relevant legal instruments.

One of the most notable features of the Draft Decree is its clear definition of the status and role of the National Social Security Database as the shared national database for the social security sector. Under the Draft, the database is designed to store, aggregate, reference, and share information on social security beneficiaries. It will be established through the connection, integration, and synchronization of data from constituent databases and other relevant databases, using the personal identification number (PIN) as the unified linkage key. The database will serve as a fundamental platform for state administration, policymaking, public service delivery, and the implementation of social security policies in the digital environment.

Notably, the Draft Decree provides that the database shall be developed based on the principle of maximizing the use of existing data and leveraging information from the National Population Database, other national databases, and sectoral databases. It does not require the recollection of citizen information that has already been managed by competent state authorities. Data shall be managed in accordance with the principles of being accurate, complete, clean, up-to-date, consistent, and shared, while being regularly updated to ensure effective connectivity, sharing, and utilization among agencies and organizations.

With respect to the insurance sector, the Draft identifies the National Insurance Database, including data on SI and HI, as one of the databases to be connected with and shared through the National Social Security Database. This provision is of particular significance because the database managed by VSS is currently one of the country's largest and most comprehensive sectoral data systems, continuously updated to reflect citizens' participation in and entitlement to SI, HI, and UI policies. The integration and sharing of this data resource will improve data quality, reduce data duplication, and provide more effective support for the implementation of social security policies.

The Draft Decree also expands access to and utilization of data in a people-centered manner. Accordingly, citizens will be able to access their own information through the Viet Nam Social Security Portal, the National Public Service Portal, the VNeID electronic identification application, and other channels as prescribed by law. They will also have the right to provide feedback and request updates whenever inaccurate information is identified. This represents an important step toward enhancing transparency, improving data quality, and strengthening citizens' oversight in the implementation of social security policies.

It can be seen that the development and promulgation of the Decree is intended not merely to establish a new database but, more importantly, to provide a legal foundation enabling ministries, sectors, and local authorities to standardize, connect, and effectively leverage existing data resources. Once data is shared through a unified platform, administrative procedures can be further re-engineered to rely on data reuse instead of requiring citizens to repeatedly submit applicationsand supporting documents. This will shorten processing time, reduce compliance costs, and improve the quality of public service delivery.

Building on the data foundations established over many years—particularly the large-scale database of VSS, together with the data systems of ministries and sectors—the early completion of the legal framework will enable the full value of data to be realized in governance, administration, and policy implementation. In the longer term, it will provide a critical foundation for developing a synchronized and modern social security data ecosystem, thereby advancing national digital transformation and contributing to the effective realization of the goal of building a sustainable, people-centered social security system.