Quang Ninh Province’s digital transformation project: Boosting productivity twentyfold with AI-First approach
10,000 user configurations migrated automatically with perfect accuracy, and more than 20 systems integrated in just one week – an estimated 20 times faster than traditional methods. These impressive figures demonstrate the exceptional efficiency achieved when an AI-First mindset is applied in a real-world, large-scale digital transformation project. The story in Quang Ninh – Vietnam’s first locality to implement a two-tier local government model (province – commune/ward) is a vivid testament to the power of technology and FPT’s commitment to accompanying the nation in building a modern government. It also reflects the spirit of innovation, creativity, and bold execution of FPT’s engineering team.
In late Q2 2025, Mr. Nguyen Trong Hai Anh, a technical specialist at FPT, was assigned to the project deploying the two-level local government model and the one-level public administration center in Quang Ninh. This was a major technology mission for the province, contributing to the implementation of Resolution 57-NQ/TW on national administrative reform – reshaping the administrative landscape and government structure to create a more modern, effective, and efficient public administration. The project completion milestone was set before July 1, 2025.
Under immense time pressure, heavy workloads, and high expectations, the project demanded not only an on-time “go-live” but also the seamless operation of the entire government apparatus, ensuring uninterrupted services for citizens and businesses from day one. From the moment the challenge was presented by Quang Ninh authorities, the FPT project team had just one month to prepare, build the system, and migrate data for nearly 10,000 users, serving more than 1.4 million residents and businesses across the province.
Faced with such complex and urgent requirements, the FPT team decided to break away from the conventional approach. Instead, they adopted an AI-First mindset to tackle this large-scale digital transformation challenge. One of the greatest hurdles was reconfiguring roles and reassigning personnel across administrative units during the transition from a three-tier to a two-tier model. If done manually, this task would not only have been time-consuming but also prone to critical data errors that could disrupt the entire system.
Initial AI-Driven Ideas for the Quang Ninh Project
With AI technology at their side, the project team leveraged the WindSurf IDE in combination with the Claude 3.7 Sonnet model to build user configuration portals – an essential data component for system operations. According to Mr. Hai Anh, the team quickly identified the risks of manual data entry and decided from the outset to create an intermediate database to validate and standardize data before uploading it to the official system. From concept to the first demo of the configuration portal took only about three hours. The system was then refined to enhance user-friendliness. “The moment I truly realized the difference AI makes was in speed and efficiency. In an extremely short amount of time, we were able to build the portal exactly as envisioned, something that, using traditional methods, would have taken at least several days,” Mr. Hai Anh shared.
Applying AI simplified and accelerated the entire process. Traditionally, the task would have required 20 days and about 30 people. With the AI-powered approach, the project team needed only one week and roughly three people, while also enabling easy handover so that local units could configure the system themselves. Overall, the process was estimated to be around 20 times faster than the conventional method.
On July 1, 2025, the project to implement the two-level local government model and the one-level public administration center in Quang Ninh officially went live successfully.
On July 1, 2025, the project to implement the two-level local government model and the one-stop public administration center in Quang Ninh officially went live. As one of the pioneering localities in reforming governance models, Quang Ninh began operating its two-level local government system from the very first day of the national administrative reform process. In its role as the primary technology partner, FPT successfully delivered the public administration service system, ensuring smooth and uninterrupted operations from the moment of transition.
In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the project, Mr. Nguyen Trong Hai Anh was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Minister of Science and Technology for his exceptional achievements in driving digital transformation to support Quang Ninh’s two-level local government model. “Receiving this recognition from the Ministry’s leadership and the company is an enormous source of encouragement for me. It acknowledges the relentless efforts I have made over the past period and inspires me to keep striving even harder,” he shared.
The AI-First approach not only boosted day-to-day work productivity but also opened up opportunities to develop new features, simplify processes, accelerate project deployment, and reduce reliance on programmers. According to Mr. Hai Anh, the most critical factor behind the success of this approach was the team’s unity and decisiveness – daring to try, daring to act, and daring to apply AI in real-world scenarios. “If you have the chance to integrate AI into your project – just go for it. You’ll be surprised at how much more it can do than you ever imagined,” he emphasized.
Mr. Nguyen Trong Hai Anh was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Minister of Science and Technology for his outstanding contributions to the digital transformation supporting the two-level local government model
Today, the AI-First mindset and solutions successfully piloted in Quang Ninh are being scaled and applied across multiple FPT projects to boost deployment productivity and shorten implementation timelines. Mr. Nguyen Trong Hai Anh is also one of the key members of the AI Hero Team – the core force behind FPT’s AI-First program. The AI Hero Team comprises outstanding technical specialists from various production units, trained intensively to spearhead the integration of AI into real-world projects. They are not only early adopters of new AI tools but also play a pivotal role in spreading the AI-First mindset across the organization, helping colleagues apply AI effectively and standardize its use in daily operations.
