Key factor of digital transformation

Hanoi (VNA) - Digital transformation is a revolutionary conversion and will change Vietnam’s face.

At the Vietnam ICT Summit 2019 themed “Digital transformation towards a prosperous Vietnam”, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said information technology (IT) enterprises and digital firms will play a key role in the digital transformation process.

Therefore, Vietnam needs to have 100,000 information and communication technology (ICT) enterprises in all provinces and cities nationwide. The businesses will focus on providing consultancy on technology, technology transfer, application of IT in all economic, cultural and social aspects in order to boost the country’s digital development.

National digital building alliance

The Vietnam Digital Transformation Alliance was formed in August to help push digital transformation in Vietnam. In the first phase, the alliance is a collaboration of eight major technological enterprises, namely Viettel, VNPT, FPT, MoibiFone, CMC, BKAV, VNG and MISA. They join hands in investing in digital transformation infrastructure and platforms

Chairman of the alliance Le Dang Dung said the establishment is initially based on the gathering of Vietnam’s biggest telecommunication and IT enterprises with a task of inspiring entire society on digital transformation

The leading businesses will actively implement digital transformation and create platforms, infrastructure, services, facilitating Vietnamese firms and entire society’s participation in digital transformation. Then, the alliance will expand for competent businesses to engage in the country’s process.

The alliance aims to cooperate and accompany with the government, ministries, sectors and firms to accelerate the digital transformation process in Vietnam.

 
Nguyen Thanh Phuc, Director of the Authority of Information Technology Application under the Ministry of Information and Communications, said there are three important principles for businesses to join the digital transformation process. The first is to ensure compatibility, because Vietnam will build a lot of digital platforms and information systems when carrying out digital transformation and data sharing is an indispensable requirement.

The second is the default. It is meant that each agency, each business must always ask itself why this activity has not been digitised because digitisation needs to apply to the whole process, not each segment.

The third principle is to ensure the safety of network security, because once connected, it is easy to spread insecurity in a unit to other units.

For successful digital transformation, it is necessary to have the determination of the Government, the orientation of the Ministry of Information and Communications, and the support of IT enterprises. The companies joining the Vietnam Digital Transformation Alliance are committed to joining hands to solve existing problems and sharing experience and resources to promote a successful digital transformation in each unit and spread it to entire society.

Technology platform development

In 2019, Vietnam has announces a strategy for national digital transformation towards a digital economy and digital society. Accordingly, building digital technology platforms is the core to a successful digital transformation. In the Vietnam Digital Transformation Alliance, IT enterprises need to take a lead with focus on investing in infrastructure, technology and building platforms to provide them for enterprises when they carry out digital transformation.


Currently, FPT Group aims to reduce the time for implementing digital transformation projects of organisations and businesses with comprehensive digital products and platforms by 30-50 percent. FPT intends to train 50,000 high-quality IT engineers and transfer digitised methodology.

After three years of implementing digital transformation, Nguyen Van Khoa, General Director of FPT Group, shared that businesses need to focus on building specific methodologies. Once the methodology is available, companies begin building essential foundations for the transformation. Finally, it is necessary to focus on searching, training, developing digital human resources to successfully carry out digital transformation.

The provision of infrastructure and technology platforms has been invested and operated by businesses in the Vietnam Digital Transformation Alliance. But a synchronous connection between infrastructure and platforms is needed.

Nguyen Trung Chinh, Chairman of CMC Group, emphasised that IT companies providing platform services should create products that help businesses, organisations and individuals quickly access attainments of the gidital economy at the lowest cost, shortest time and highest level of safety. In addition, firms need to accelerate the process of digital transformation by building a foundation for each industry and each field. Digital transformation that wants to succeed at a large scale is to create a platform that any object can use and connect easily.

According to Nguyen Dinh Tuan, member of the Council of Board of Directors of Mobifone Corporation, to be successful, companies need to provide a platform for all users, and network providers provide connectivity infrastructure, while businesses will continue to provide other services, shifting from telecommunication connection services to connecting with IT equipment and services.


Ngo Dien Hy, General Director of VNPT Information Technology Company, said that VNPT has shifted from traditional telecommunication network to digital service provider since 2014. Up to now, apart from providing telecommunication infrastructure, VNPT is working to provide ecosystems. The essential ecosystems that need to be invested are education, health, agricultural tourism, and environmental resources.

Minister of Information and Telecommunications Nguyen Manh Hung said during the digital transformation process, Vietnam will focus on developing four kinds of IT businesses.

Firstly, large technology firms (about 10-20 businesses) are those who have financial, market and human resources capacity.

Secondly, technology firms with 10-20 years of experience mainly in outsourcing will shift to make products, mainly digital transformation platforms.

Thirdly, they are startup, IT consultancy and technology transfer businesses

Finally, they are startup innovation firms with the development of new technologies and breakthrough business models.

To achieve high rankings in the world and the goal of being in group 50 by 2025 and group 30 by 2030, Vietnam needs to focus on five fundamental factors during its digital transformation process, including institution, infrastructure, cybersecurity, existing digital platforms and human resources training. The application of existing digital platforms is the fastest way for digital transformation in Vietnam.

With the determination of the government, the active participation of information technology enterprises and the people's consensus, it is hoped that in the future, Vietnam will build a digital platform that can connect millions of people, thousands of businesses, sharing information and promoting all economic, cultural and social factors to develop together in a digital environment./.