November 2016—The work of Vietnam’s National Assembly (NA) is most effective when its deputies are well-informed and prepared to participate in active debate. To that end, research staff from the NA library respond to information requests from the assembly’s 500 deputies.

The procedure used to be cumbersome and time-consuming, with staff responding in writing and conducting the research manually. The process was also counterproductive considering the deputies’ needs for immediate information to make informed decisions. Furthermore, written research was sometimes lost.

In October 2015, with USAID’s help, the NA library officially adopted an online Instant Support System (ISS) to replace the old written process, thereby ensuring a quick, simple and cost-effective process for relaying information requests and research from and to NA deputies.

According to Trinh Ngoc Cuong, chief of the library’s Reader Services and Information Division, the innovation “put information promptly at the fingertips of deputies and NA staff, and helped us make the management of requests for information more effective and efficient than ever before.”

NA staff now search the library database quickly to support legislative debates and oversight, even when deputies are working in their remote provinces.

“The ISS has radically changed the way that deputies get access to information in support of their mandate. It saves time, money and other resources for both the library and deputies, and is in line with the development of e-Parliament in Vietnam,” said Dinh Thi Hanh Mai, vice director of the NA library.

The new system has also integrated several databases for laws, regulations, the law dictionary, and earlier research as well as improving administrative support tools.

“The ISS helped me to effectively implement legislative and oversight activities,” said Nguyen Van Tuyet, vice chairman of the NA Committee on Culture, Education, Adolescents and Children.

The NA library continues to explore ways to make the ISS more efficient, including planned access via mobile devices.

This work has been supported by USAID’s Governance for Inclusive Growth program, which runs from 2013 to 2018 and is implemented by Chemonics International. The program works with the Government of Vietnam to support trade, legal and regulatory reforms, governance and inclusive economic growth.

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