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The unified use of Personal Identification Numbers (PINs)/Citizen ID is marking  a significant step forward in this direction. Simply put, this is a change in how participants are identified. However, behind a personal identification number lies an extensive process of reviewing, cleansing, verifying, and connecting data on a large scale, gradually establishing an integrated social security data platform to better support management, as well as citizens’ participation in and access to social security policies and benefits.

When each person is identified by a unified identifier

In the field of  social security, a person’s information is not associated with only one policy or one point in time. It may include the process of participating in social insurance (SI), health insurance (HI), and unemployment insurance (UI); contribution and benefit records; information about employers; or data generated when citizens carry out administrative procedures or use public services.

When such information is identified in a unified manner, management is no longer simply a matter of storing information, but  gradually shifts toward the ability to connect and utilize data according to each stage of a citizen’s process.

In practice, this is a very large-scale process. By June 30, 2026, VSS had verified more than 100.2 million citizen records with the National Population Database(NPD). Of these, approximately 93.7 million people currently participating in and receiving SI, HI, and UI benefits had been successfully averified, representing 99.74% of the total number of participants, excluding the armed forces and military dependants.

These figures not only reflect the completeness of data verification. More importantly, they provide the foundation for participants’ information to be identified consistently, limiting fragmentation, duplication, or discrepancies in information during the management process, while also facilitating the gradual implementation of  administrative procedures in the digital environment.

Once information has been authenticated against population data, citizens can also gradually reduce the need to resubmit information that state agencies already possess and are authorized to access and utilize. This is one of the key changes that digital transformation seeks to achieve: using data as a foundation for simplifying the process of serving citizens.

A personal Identification number comes from an entire process of data standardization

An integrated data system cannot be established simply by changing a code. Behind it lies a continuous process of reviewing, standardizing, reconciling, and cleansing data so that information can “speak the same language” across systems.

For VSS, this process is being carried out in parallel with the completion of the NPD and the expansion of connectivity with national databases and specialized databases.

In particular, many important data groups within the NPD on insurance and specialized databases have been successfully synchronized with the National Data Center. These include participant data, contribution records, benefit and payment record sfor SI, HI, and UI schemes, employer data, etc.

It is noteworthy that data are no longer generated solely to serve a particular agency or individual process. Once interconnected, data can become a shared information resource, supporting various management activities and public service delivery.

Practice Implementation shows that the value of data connectivity has been demonstrated in many areas. In HI-covered medical examinations and treatments, by  June 30, 2026, 100% of HI-covered medical facilities nationwide had implemented medical examination and treatment using chip-based Citizen IDs; more than 469.1 million successful inquiries of HI card information had been made using PINs or Citizen IDs, contributing to reducing the time citizens spend completing procedures.

These results show that the value of data lies not in how much information is stored, but in the ability to verify, connect, and use data to address practical tasks.

From integrated data to a Citizen-Centered digital social security foundation

As data becomes increasingly standardized and interconnected, the way social security services are delivered also has the potential to evolve toward a more proactive approach.

Instead of requiring citizens to submit documents one by one for each procedure, state agencies can gradually access data that have been authenticated and shared in accordance with regulations. Instead of each system operating relatively independently, data can be interoperable to support an unified process.

This is also why connecting VSS’s data with ministries and agencies not only serves the management requirements of the social security system itself, but also expands the capacity to share and utilize data in handling procedures and services related to citizens. In fact, SI and UI data are provided in a timely manner to support the Employment Service Center system in processing unemployment benefits; data interoperability to support electronic health records, drivers’ health examination certificates, electronic birth certificates, and electronic death notifications also continues to be implemented.

Thus, from unified personal identifiers, data are gradually being connected into continuous information streams between agencies, sectors, and services. Each new connection not only helps to reduce  a step in the processing procedure but also contributes to establishing a data-driven management approach, in which information is used in the right place and for the right purpose, providing better services to citizens.

This also serves as a foundation for VSS  to continue developing digital services and utilizing big data for management, monitoring, analysis, and risk warning, while enhancing transparency and efficiency in the implementation of SI, HI, and UI policies.

The transition from personal identification number to an integrated social security data system is a long-term process, in which every step of data standardization and connectivity creates an additional foundation for the next stage of development. When data  is verified, interconnected, and effectively utilized, digital transformation is no longer merely a story about technology, but becomes a method of managing social security policies more effectively, simplifying services, and enabling citizens to access their entitlements more conveniently, transparently, and securely.

This is also the direction toward establishing a modern social security system, in which data is interconnected, services are simplified, and citizens can increasingly access their rights in the digital environment in a convenient, transparent, and secure manner./.