All hands on deck for tech upgrades

Vietnam’s digital transformation is vital for socio-economic success

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has just announced that it is working on a number of solutions to further promote digital technology businesses, develop tech products in e-commerce and e-payment, and boost IT applications in socio-economic development.

According to a VIR source, the new policies may focus on tax, fees, and favourable market access to certain areas. As expected, the specific solutions will be announced at the prime minister’s largest-ever dialogue with the business community in late April or early May.

Alongside these strategies, golden opportunities for domestic and multinational corporations (MNCs) are on the way as the country issued a number of legal foundations in April as a means of opening up the market.

On the topic of national data sharing, the government enacted Decree No.47/2020/ND-CP dated April 9 on management, connectivity, and sharing of digital data of state organs. Taking effect from May 25, organisations, businesses, and individuals can access certain open information in line with prevailing rules.

Also in April, Vietnam, for the first time, issued a set of technical criteria on cloud computing. Based on these, state organs can assess and select solutions, or lease cloud computing services to serve the development of e-government and e-authority.

Vietnam is making great progress in promoting digital transformation at the government level since the launch of an e-government portal last December.

“The cloud computing platform will be a new generation telecommunications infrastructure in the next five or 10 years,” said a MIC official. “The announcement of a set of technical criteria is more meaningful in this period, as state organs and Vietnamese businesses are heading towards digital transformation. This is the orientation for development of cloud computing for e-government and e-authority towards a digital government, digital economy, and digital society.”

The sharing of digital data and the cloud computing platform are being viewed with interest by domestic and international technology firms in Vietnam. World-leading brands such as Amazon, Microsoft, and others are expanding rapidly in the country.

There is more good news for both international and domestic technology enterprises, as the MIC and the Government Office are finalising a national digital transformation programme and will submit it to the government for issuance this month, thus giving a big push in digital transformation across sectors.

In the draft of the National Digital Transformation Programme by 2025, with a vision towards 2030, Vietnam will become a digital country, pioneering in testing new technologies and models; renovating fundamentally and comprehensively the management and administrative activities of the government, production and business activities of enterprises, and people’s living and working routines; and developing a safe and humane digital environment.

These would be a new driving force for technology firms to take the next step with their plans. So far, domestic telecommunications giants like FPT, Viettel, and VNPT along with MNCs such as AWS, Qualcomm, Lenovo, Keysight Technologies, and VMware Vietnam have announced their ambitious plans for the country.

In a nation where small- and medium-sized enterprises make up over 90 per cent of the market, this represents a positive potential growth area. AWS in particular believes it can play a big part in this growth.

“On the 5G front, we already mentioned that we have 22 regions, and we are building edge locations and points of presence around the world,” Conor McNamara, managing director of Amazon Web Services Southeast Asia, told VIR. “Over time we’ll bring these operations to Vietnam. That will allow deployment of AWS infrastructure in various data centres.”

“With the coming launch of Wavelength,” continued McNamara, “Coupled with the high consumption level of Vietnamese consumers and the digital savvy nature of the country, Vietnam certainly is an area of focus for us and we expect that it will happen over the years to come.”

Similarly, Keysight Technologies has partnered with technology giants such as Qualcomm, NVIDIA, and others to introduce new products and services to accelerate digital transformation.

Nguyen Van Giap - Manager, Lenovo Vietnam Vietnam now sees Industry 4.0 as a key enabler for digital transformation, taking the country to a digital economy for further development. Vietnam is a market full of potential for IT companies like us because of its stable economic growth and the government’s vision towards technology applications to drive future economic growth. We recognise that our “intelligent transformation” strategy is aligned with Vietnam’s economic development, making it one of the key markets in the Asia-Pacific region for us to focus on. With our “Smarter Technology For All” vision, we are continuing to pursue this strategy with a focus on smart Internet of Things, smart infrastructure, and smart verticals, where we see our greatest opportunity for future growth and industry leadership. In addition, education transformation is a priority for Lenovo in Vietnam. The Vietnamese government is working on Education 4.0, where smart classrooms and distance learning become trends for increasing education quality and efficiency, demanding that educators adapt themselves to meet new requirements. We will continue to explore new opportunities and integrate them deeply with vertical industries and the Lenovo ecosystem. This is enabled by our leading innovation strength with our commitment to invest $1.2 billion for AI research and development over the period until 2023. Pham Viet Thang - Country manager, VMware Vietnam Vietnam is on track to be a technology powerhouse in the region and the growing innovation ecosystem here will continue to drive the country’s fast-growing digital economy. As a global leader in the modern technology space, we provide Vietnamese enterprises with innovations that enable them to modernise their applications and infrastructure, giving them the freedom to deliver apps to any cloud and any device. By empowering organisations with next-generation technologies to build, run, and also manage their modern applications in a secure environment, we strive to help businesses become more cloud-ready so they can stay ahead of their rapidly changing customer demands. VMware is committed to Vietnam’s innovation ecosystem; we are well positioned to help businesses here succeed along each step of their digital transformation journey. The strong and secure partnerships that we have forged across the ecosystem gives enterprises in Vietnam and beyond the access to next-generation technologies, while also providing a robust digital foundation that is critical in meeting modern technology demands such as the cloud, intrinsic security, intelligent networks, and also digitalised workspaces. Nam Thieu - Country manager, Qualcomm Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia Qualcomm and Keysight Technologies are open to collaborate with, and make our technologies accessible to Vietnamese companies and other stakeholders who plan to deploy small cells in the country as part of their respective 5G infrastructure development plans. This is part of our commitment to help Vietnam achieve its goal of becoming one of the first countries in the region, if not the world, to commercially launch 5G. Specifically, Qualcomm is working with Vietnamese carriers to support their 5G rollout plan, covering network design, trial, testing, and optimisation which includes 5G small cell deployment. Also, Qualcomm is supporting Vietnamese manufacturers in building “Made-in-Vietnam” 5G small cell products by providing reference design, chipset platforms, software, and engineering customer support. The target markets are wireless operators rolling out 5G networks. 5G small cell deployment will be key to ensure network quality and coverage, especially for indoor areas. Another key target market is enterprises deploying 5G private networks for applications such as smart factories, autonomous driving, and remote healthcare, thanks to the ultra-low latency and very high reliability of 5G.