Employees of e-commerce firm NextTech Group. Technology-based firms and start-up businesses are in need of a sandbox so they can test new ideas before realising them in the market. (Photo courtesy of NextTech Group) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) — The legal framework on sandbox development will besubmitted to the Government for approval in the third quarter of the year tofoster new models of business and service.
A sandbox is a space where new financial technology products are developed andtested. When tested, any mistakes and errors may appear and they will be fixedat once to make sure the applications are of good quality for practical usage.
According to Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung, theworld is transforming from a ‘real’ platform to a ‘virtual’ one focusing ondealing with new business relations.
The minister cited some examples such as the booking platform Triptour.vn andride-hailing firm Grab, which do business based on technology and their operationshave stirred public concern over whether they could be managed to assure marketfairness and balance.
The debate among regulatory agencies about the role and responsibility oftechnology-based businesses had been going on for half a decade, Hung told ameeting this week.
Different views had pointed out that using a sandbox to resolve existingproblems and help develop technology-based firms is the most appropriate idea,he said.
“The sandbox model should be applied within a fixed timeframe and space (thesectors where businesses can operate). It shouldn’t last too long,” Hung said.
Vietnam is targeting to become the top digital economy in the region by 2030,where new models of business and technology are freely tested for furtherdevelopment of the digital economy.
Digital transformation is a revolution in terms of policies as they play thekey role in hastening the digital transformation process. However, laws andregulations cannot be changed soon, so the sandbox is a good way for businessesand government agencies to pilot their new ideas and the tests must relate tospecific Government policies.
Chu Thi Hoa, deputy director of the Institute of Juridical Science under theMinistry of Justice, told a national workshop in late June that"enterprises have the right to do things that are not forbidden by law sothey can seize opportunities at the right time".
Technology and computing group CMC’s chairman Nguyen Trung Chinh told ICTnewsthat technology was becoming more necessary and a number of economic sectorsneeded technological applications to improve their performance.
Due to a fast-changing digital world, legal policies often lagged behindtechnologies and practices, so it would be difficult to ask the Government to providepolicies for something that is coming in the future, he said.
"But government agencies and companies can work and fix problems at thesame time," Chinh said, adding it would be better to keep them going andfixing errors rather than waiting for the approval of new policies – which maycost companies valuable opportunities.-VNS/VNA
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