Smart City Operations Solution (IOC)

NGÀY ĐĂNG 29/10/2025

Võ Hồng Tiên

In the digital transformation era, the smart urban operation center (IOC) is considered the digital brain of the city. IOC is the place to synthesize, analyze and display all urban data in real time, helping the government make quick - accurate - effective decisions, aiming at the goal of building a smart, safe and sustainable city.

IOC and outstanding features

What is IOC?

IOC (Intelligent Operation Center) is a centralized operating platform for the entire smart urban ecosystem.

This system collects data from many different sources such as:

• Security, traffic, and environmental surveillance cameras.
• IoT sensors (lighting, energy, waste...).
• Applications reflect the scene and digital citizen data.
• Specialized databases such as fire prevention, health, education...
• IOC helps integrate, analyze and display visual data through dashboards, supporting management and quick decision making.

Outstanding features of the IOC system

Monitoring and synthesizing multi-source data

• Collecting data from many subsystems such as: traffic, security, environment, health, education, energy, and field reflection.
• Support real-time data integration, displayed on a centralized dashboard.
• Standardize and store Big Data for analysis and decision making.

Monitoring public security and order

• Directly connect to surveillance camera systems, security centers, traffic warnings, fire prevention.
• AI application recognizes faces, detects crowds, unusual incidents, and suspicious behavior.
• Early warning to authorities via app, SMS, or task management system.

Environmental and infrastructure monitoring

• Monitoring air quality index (AQI), noise, water, light, waste, energy.
• Integrating IoT sensor data at measuring points in the city.
• Warning when exceeding the allowable standard threshold, helping authorities proactively respond.

Smart traffic management and coordination

• Monitoring vehicle density and traffic status in real time.
• Analyzing and proposing traffic regulation directions, warning of congestion.
• Integrating with traffic light control systems, non-stop toll collection, smart parking.

Receiving and processing people's feedback

• The "Smart City" application allows people to send feedback (photos, videos, GPS locations).
• Automatically route feedback to the right unit in charge of processing.
• Monitoring processing progress and responding to results publicly and transparently.

Monitoring the operation of public services

• Monitor the performance of administrative agencies and public service centers.
• Measure the level of satisfaction of people when using services.
• Detect bottlenecks and propose improvements based on data.

Flexible expansion and integration

• Open architecture, easy to connect with specialized systems (fire protection, electricity, healthcare, education, renewable energy, etc.).
• Compatible with many international standard protocols such as BACnet, Modbus, ONVIF, MQTT.
• Support deployment on cloud computing platforms (Cloud/Hybrid).

Support decision making and forecasting

• Analyze big data combined with AI & Machine Learning to forecast urban trends: population, economy, security, environment, etc.
• Provide smart city digital maps (Smart City Map) to help leaders make accurate and quick decisions.
• Visual reporting, automatically synthesizing data by time, location, and field.

IOC system model in practice

The IOC system is a place to collect, analyze, and display data from all fields in the city on a single centralized management platform. The IOC operating model includes three main layers:

• Data layer: collects information from many different sources such as IoT sensors, surveillance cameras, traffic systems, environment, fire protection, health, education, energy, public administration, etc.
• Analysis & processing layer: uses Big Data, AI, Machine Learning technology to analyze, provide early warning, forecast trends, and support decision making.
• Display & operation layer: displays data on Dashboard, large LED screens, mobile and web applications for leaders and managers to access anytime, anywhere.

An IOC model in practice usually includes the following main components:

IOC Operation Center

• A central control room, equipped with a video wall, audio system, server, and visual data display device.
• Allows real-time monitoring of the entire city: traffic, security, environment, on-site reflection, public services, etc.

Urban data system

• Integrating data from subsystems: surveillance cameras, IoT sensors, GIS systems, fire protection, healthcare, education, energy, etc.
• Standardizing data according to the Data Lake or Data Hub model, ensuring compatibility and expansion in the future.
• Applying open APIs to connect with third parties.

Analysis & artificial intelligence system

• Application of AI to recognize faces, license plates, abnormal behavior, and crowd analysis.
• Machine Learning helps forecast traffic trends, energy consumption, and air quality.
• Early warning system sends information to authorities via SMS, App or dashboard.

Information portal and application for citizens

• Providing smart urban applications, allowing citizens to on-site reflection, information lookup, public service evaluation.
• Helps increase interaction between government - businesses - people.

Security system and network infrastructure

• Apply international security standards (ISO/IEC 27001, NIST, FIPS 140-2). Support on-premise or cloud deployment, flexible scalability.
• Integrated firewall, VPN, user authorization, centralized access monitoring.

Typical Smart City Operation Center (IOC) model in Vietnam

Smart City Operation Centers (IOC) are considered the digital brain of localities, a key solution to promote national digital transformation. The deployment of IOC in Vietnam has demonstrated flexibility and efficiency through two typical models, from large city level to district administrative level.

City Level IOC Model: City. Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)

The IOC in HCMC is one of the four main pillars of the Smart City project, officially put into operation since the beginning of May 2019. The core objective of the HCMC IOC is to synthesize important information and data sources of the city, serving the overall management needs of the leaders, while monitoring and analyzing service quality.

In terms of structure, the HCMC IOC consists of two main blocks: the Reception and Coordination Block and the Operation Information Center Block. In particular, the most prominent highlight in terms of performance is the 1022 Information Portal. This is the channel for receiving and processing feedback and recommendations from people, businesses and organizations in many fields. The performance of this system is measured specifically: from the beginning of 2024 to now, Portal 1022 has received nearly 64,000 feedbacks, and the on-time processing results have reached an impressive rate of 99.5%.

In addition, the Ho Chi Minh City IOC is also equipped with tools to listen to social networks, collect and analyze public opinion information, helping leaders grasp issues that have not been officially reflected. This effective integration and coordination not only helps improve the quality of public services but also supports Ho Chi Minh City to perfect the two-level local government model, increasing transparency and people's trust.

IOC Model Spreads to District Level: Quang Nam Province

The IOC model does not stop at large urban areas but has been widely deployed down to the district administrative level, typically in Quang Nam with districts such as Duy Xuyen, Bac Tra My, Nong Son and Thang Binh. This model is built as a foundational, core system to promote digital transformation and improve the operational efficiency of local state agencies.

The most obvious effectiveness is recorded in Thang Binh district. In just two years after putting the IOC into operation, the district has risen to the top of the province in terms of Information Technology Application Index (ICT INDEX), from being at the bottom of the table. This change comes from the IOC acting as a mandatory mechanism, requiring all sectors and localities to use management software in processing records and solving daily tasks. This proves that the IOC is an effective lever to modernize administrative management and narrow the digital gap even in rural areas and district capitals.

Both models are based on the integration of platform technologies such as Big Data Analytics, IoT, and AI/ML to transform from manual management models to real-time monitoring, ensuring smart, efficient and people-centered urban operations.