Vietnam celebrates ICT achievements with annual events that showcase innovations.
November 22, 2017, was a date celebrated in Vietnam – it was national Internet day – marking the 20th anniversary of the Internet in Vietnam. The Internet was officially recognised and licensed in Vietnam in late 1997, and after only 20 years, Vietnam’s Internet accessibility is now higher than the world average, at over 46 percent. Today, Vietnam has over 50 million users, a massive expansion from its 31 million users five years ago in 2012.
The Vietnam Internet Association (VIA) organised Internet day 2017, and attractions at the event included technologies such as smart lighting, smart parking systems, and e-finance apps. Representatives from the Ministry of Information and Communications attended the event and confirmed that Vietnam’s future will focus on promoting the development of information technology, telecommunications and Internet infrastructure, and digital content. Currently, all provincial exchanges in Vietnam are digitalised and connected to Ho Chi Minh City by fibre-optic cable or microwave radio relay networks. Wi-fi and mobile phone subscriptions in Vietnam are incredibly cheap, and this is attractive to businesses as well as young people.
Online games, entertainment, and mobile apps are already big business in Asia, and Vietnam is no exception. The future is very bright in this area, thanks in no small part to the entrepreneurial attitude of the Vietnamese people. Along with Internet day, Vietnam also has an annual ‘Mobile day’, which examines m-commerce (mobile commerce), mobile business and mobile technology trends, and how local and overseas companies can benefit. This year’s event was called ‘Revolution of Mobile Industry’, and it was attended by representatives from Facebook, Google and Microsoft.
Vietnam is innovative and technology-focused. The Vietnam Internet Forum was held in the week following Internet day. At the event, UNESCO discussed the concept of ‘Internet Universality’ which promotes an Internet that works for all – from big business to individuals in remote locations. This was another event that was significant for a strong future, as cyber-security, digital rights, and the challenges of social media were also discussed. Cyber-security is a hot topic around the world, and as a result of the rise in cyber-crime, Vietnam’s Law on Cyber Information Security came into effect 1 July 2016, with the draft legislation made public in 2017. It is expected that data protection, encryption and cyber-security will become more significant under the new law, which can only be good for security of local and overseas businesses.
The accessibility and low cost of the Internet have played a vital role in Vietnam’s economic integration process. The Australian Government’s Austrade website agrees with the Vietnamese Government’s optimism, noting that the outlook for Vietnam’s information and communication technology (ICT) market is strong, with an average growth rate of 8 percent forecast for 2016-2020. Austrade notes strong growth in areas such as:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, business intelligence, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, human resource management, data analytic and database/datacentre software, especially in the banking and finance sector
Key areas for communication technology are digital content, online games, online entertainment, e-commerce, e-libraries, digital television, and electronic newspapers.
Online games, entertainment, and mobile apps are already big business in Asia, and Vietnam is no exception. The future is very bright in this area, thanks in no small part to the entrepreneurial attitude of the Vietnamese people.
