The  Province of Ha Nam, Viet Nam  was visited by  staff  from the Viet Nam Department of Animal Health (DAH),  NetNam Corporation, Information Centre of Natural Resources and Environment of Viet Nam (CIREN),  National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC) of Thailand,  and CISCAI-Project Coordination Unit (PCU), last  2 October 2009, to conduct    a short stakeholders’ consultation  meeting and field tests  of  the mobile geographic information and reporting systems (GIRS) in the area.

The field team, which  was headed by Dr. Tran Ngoc Thang,  Director of Planning,  International Cooperation and Science Division-DAH, touched base with key  local community officials  at the Ha Nam Community Hall.  A  dynamic interplay  of discussions occurred between  CISCAI system developers such as the NetNam and CIREN and NECTEC , and the  local users  consisting of farmers and poultry raisers  in the area. There, the group discussed  on issues relating to  their current avian livestock industry, traditional poultry/duck raising methods, previous avian influenza  (AI) outbreaks,  their local AI reporting and management protocols, as well as, modes of communications and reporting and  service response.

The meeting was followed by ocular field visits in chosen poultry and duck farms  in the area,  to determine  the traditional  avian raising methods . On the same occasion, CIREN and  NetNam staff  conducted  field network trials on the  GIRS that they have developed, by sending  information  packets from the field (Ha Nam), to CIREN central office in  Hanoi, and see how the whole (CISCAI)  system behaved and updated itself  on  the  test  website.   

Located at the northern latitude of 20 degrees and the eastern longitude of between 105 degrees  to 110 degrees, and in the south-west of the Red river delta, Ha Nam is in the north's main region of economic development.

Ha Nam, which is around 50 kilometers from Hanoi, is in the southern gate of the capital; it borders Ha Tay in the north, Hung Yen and Thai Binh in the east, Nam Dinh and Ninh Binh in the south and Hoa Binh in the west. With this geographical position, the province has a lot of favorable conditions in socio-economic development. Ha Nam has 6 town and district administrative bodies: the town of Phu Ly (the capital of the province), the districts of Duy Tien, Kim Bang, Ly Nhan, Thanh Liem and Binh Luc.

The province is located on the important north-south road with the national highway No. 1 and the north-south railway running throughout the province for nearly 50 kilometers, and other important roads such as national highways No. 21, No. 21B and No. 38.  It is convenient and fast to go from Phu Ly town to provinces in the Red River delta.

The strategic and important location of  Ha Nam province made it  to be the choice as pilot test area  for  CISCAI-Vietnam.  (CISCA-PCU)