The Asian-Oceania Computing Industry Organisation (ASOCIO) ICT Summit 2014 was launched in Hanoi on October 29 under the theme “ICT - the new paradigm for socio-economic development and agriculture restructuring” with the participation of 700 delegates from nearly 20 economies in the region.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam highlighted the contribution of information and communications technology (ICT) to improving the lives of all members of society, from intellectuals and farmers to people with disabilities.

The PM said developing and developed countries could utilise ICT to increase their competitiveness and contribute to the global value chain.

However, the boom in ICT poses a number of information safety and security challenges. Hackers have caused significant economic loss, the PM said, expressing his hope that the ICT community would step up their efforts to increase information security.

The application of ICT in agriculture is discussed during the summit, providing valuable inputs for Vietnam to develop its agricultural sector and transition towards a more modern and globally integrated industrialised society, the PM concluded.

The opening ceremony was followed by talks on ICT in agricultural reform, ICT as a new paradigm for improving public services, and SMAC (social, mobile, analytics, and cloud) technology as a basis for smart development.

This is the second ASOCIO ICT Summit to be hosted by Vietnam.-VNA