Digital transformation promotes new rural construction

From the smooth concrete roads, the rows of colorful flowers, to the golden terraced fields at the foot of the mountain, Hun village, Chieng Coi ward,Son La provinceis undergoing remarkable changes.

To achieve this result, in addition to the correct policy of building new rural areas, promoting the application of digital transformation, especially free wifi coverage, has contributed to improving the material and spiritual life of the people here.

The Hun village cultural house, Chieng Coi ward, Son La province, was newly built and spacious, with free wifi installed, helping people conveniently access the internet. Photo: Van Ngoc

Having made an appointment, we arrived at Hun village. Mr. Tong Van Yen, Party Cell Secretary, Head of Hun village (Chieng Coi, Son La), proudly introduced his village: Hun village has 228 households with 1,153 people, home to the Thai, Tay and Muong ethnic groups. Up to now, 100% of the village roads and alleys have been concreted and have lighting installed; houses are neat, tidy and clean.

Average income per capita reached 60 million VND/year, the poverty rate was only 1.3%. Ban Hun has achieved 16 criteria, 44 indicators of new rural standard and especially 7/7 criteria of new rural model village in terms of rural culture.

According to the Party Cell Secretary and Head of Hun Village, a notable highlight in the journey of building new rural areas in Hun Village is the application of information technology and digital transformation in community life. Since 2024, free wifi has been installed at the village cultural house to serve people's Internet access, thereby opening up opportunities for people in the village to access knowledge and connect with information to study, exchange production experiences, develop the economy, increase income, and improve spiritual life.

Farmers in Hun village, Chieng Coi ward, Son La province learn production experience on the internet to apply to develop the family economy. Photo: Van Ngoc

Ms. Tong Thi Hoan, Captain of the Hun village art troupe (Chieng Coi, Son La) excitedly said: Since having wifi, the members of the village art troupe no longer have to spend money on 3G, 4G but can still easily download music, dance and singing instruction videos to practice and perform. The performances are now richer, more lively and also associated with the dissemination of legal policies, preserving cultural identity and building new rural areas.

"The performances are carefully selected, incorporating propaganda content about the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws, building a cultural life associated with new rural areas, and protecting the environment," said Ms. Hoan.

Not only serving cultural activities, the internet has also become a useful tool for people to develop the economy. Ms. Tong Thi Lien, a farmer who cultivates more than 1 hectare of coffee and fruit trees, shared: "There is everything online. I often watch videos on how to care for plants, raise chickens and pigs. When I have products, I take photos, record videos and post them for sale on social networks. It's very convenient now, I don't need to go to the market but can still sell my products."

Since having free wifi, the art troupe of Hun village, Chieng Coi ward, Son La province has had more convenience in practicing and performing. Photo: Van Ngoc

The life of people in new rural areas is improved.

Also according to Mr. Tong Van Yen, to implement the construction of a model new rural village in rural culture, from 2021 to now, Hun village has mobilized a total resource of more than 7.2 billion VND, of which the State supported over 4.8 billion VND, people contributed over 2.4 billion VND, along with thousands of working days and thousands of square meters of donated land to build infrastructure.

Typical projects such as the "Intellectual House" at the village cultural house, community sports field, modern cultural facilities and free wifi have contributed to improving the spiritual and material quality of life for the people.

Up to now, Hun village, Chieng Coi ward, Son La province, has been recognized as a model new rural village. Photo: Van Ngoc

Since then, many vibrant models of activities have been formed and maintained, such as: Thai ethnic cultural club with 120 members, 10 art teams, 3 sports clubs... 89.6% of households have achieved the title of "Cultural Family" for 3 consecutive years (2022-2024), the village has achieved the title of "Cultural Village" during the same period.

The Party Cell Secretary and Head of Hun Village added that in the coming time, the people of Hun Village will continue to maintain and develop the model of a new rural village model in terms of rural culture. Carry out environmental protection well in conjunction with community tourism development; preserve and promote unique cultural values and natural landscapes towards achieving more models of rural tourism. Especially the digital transformation in new rural construction.

The change in Hun village is a clear demonstration of the effectiveness of combining new rural construction with digital transformation. This is not only a path to bring a new look to the highland countryside but also a journey to improve the quality of life, expand opportunities for comprehensive development for the people, contributing to building the homeland of Son La to become increasingly rich, beautiful and civilized.