Vietnam to assign unique digital ID codes to land plots

The Vietnam National Data Association (NDA), in cooperation wi th the Vietnam Data Expert Network, held a workshop on August 10: “Location data management – International experience and lessons for Vietnam.”

Photo: NDA

In the digital economy, location data serves as a foundational data layer that connects people, businesses, buildings, land, assets and economic activities with the digital space. It enables national databases to be interconnected while ensuring the ability to locate, authenticate and securely share data across sectors and industries.

A standardised location-data system with a unified identification code, regular updates and secure data-sharing capabilities would improve the efficiency of public administration while creating a foundation for the development of digital services, e-commerce, logistics, smart transport, smart cities, digital mapping, AI and other data-driven industries.

Nguyen Hong Son, deputy secretary-general of the NDA, said that from a geographical perspective, a location is used to identify a point or area on the Earth’s surface. From a data perspective, however, a location can be associated with a person, land plot, business or construction project.

“When a location is standardised, identified and connected, it becomes a point linking a wide range of activities in the digital economy,” he said.

Location data can help optimise logistics operations, enable government agencies to connect population, land, housing and public-service databases, and provide accurate data for AI systems to understand and interact with the real world. “Location data is not simply a type of data; it is a layer of infrastructure for the digital economy,” Son added.

Vietnam is entering a period of rapid data development, with an increasingly comprehensive legal framework and numerous national databases being established.

However, Son said having large amounts of data does not by itself create a data economy. Value emerges when data is standardised, connected and utilised to generate new products, services and economic value. Vietnam therefore needs to establish shared foundational data layers, with location data representing an important layer.

Dinh Hong Phong of the Department of Land Administration under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. Photo: NDA

Sharing Switzerland’s experience, Luu Vinh Toan, an engineer at UBS Group, said address data in Switzerland comprises four elements: street name, house number, postcode and city name.

Individuals and businesses are also required to report changes to their information. Once standardised data is available, additional data layers can be developed, such as information on solar energy potential, water sources and noise levels, he said.

Residents can access the system to view these data indicators. Switzerland regards address data as infrastructure for a digital nation, with data updated locally but standardised at the national level. "This approach helps Switzerland reduce its dependence on Big Tech companies such as Google," he said.

Dinh Hong Phong of the Department of Land Administration under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment said land plots were previously identified based on land-use certificates, commonly known as “red books.”

"This approach could create difficulties when Vietnam changes to a two-tier local administration model, as land-plot data would need to be adjusted to reflect administrative changes," he said.

To address this issue, authorities are developing a land-plot identification code similar to the citizen identification system on VNeID. The identification code will not depend on administrative boundaries and has been encoded using algorithms based on the location of land plots on digital applications such as Google Maps since 2025.

The land-plot identification code is also expected to be used for digital address records, cadastral records and electronic land-use certificates. Phong said, "The current form of land-use certificate would eventually be phased out, helping prevent document forgery and the practice of using the same documents as collateral for multiple transactions."

Land management would consequently shift from paper-based land certificates to data-based management. The target is to complete the system and integrate the data into VNeID by the end of 2027. People would then be able to look up information about individual land plots on VNeID more openly and transparently, Phong said.

Nguyen Ngoc Cuong, vice chairman of NDA. Photo: NDA

Nguyen Ngoc Cuong, director of the National Data Centre under the Ministry of Public Security and vice chairman of the NDA, said, “In the digital era, data has become a strategic resource for every country. For data to realise its full value and be widely shared, connected, analysed and applied, the prerequisite is synchronised, reliable and interoperable data infrastructure. Within this system, location data is a foundational component.”

Location data serves purposes beyond identifying a geographical position. Each location can serve as a connection point linking people, organisations, businesses, assets, buildings and socioeconomic activities. Once standardised, this data layer can facilitate information sharing among government agencies while supporting e-commerce, logistics, urban planning, land management, construction, emergency response, public-service delivery and the development of artificial intelligence applications.

From this perspective, location data should be viewed as strategic data infrastructure capable of connecting with other critical data layers, including population, business, land and base-map data.

Meanwhile, Dao Duc Trieu, secretary-general of the NDA, said public demand for land data is high. "Data needs to be “accurate, complete, clean, and real-time”, with the ability to connect across systems and be applied in real life, including in logistics," he said. "Vietnam also needs to develop specialised data-processing companies capable of creating applications for different industries."

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