Solutions to create the foundation for digital transformation and develop digital infrastructure to be ready to meet the explosive demand for connection and data processing play a very important role…

In recent years, the development of the digital economy has been considered a driving force to help Vietnam transform strongly in the future. Vietnam aims to have the digital economy contribute 20% of GDP by 2025 and increase to 30% of GDP by 2030. Accordingly, the proportion of the digital economy in each industry and field will reach at least 10% by 2025, doubling by 2030. Along with that, Vietnam also aims to be in the top 30 leading countries in information technology and competitiveness-innovation index by the end of this decade.

Therefore, along with promoting the application of technology and data to increase labor productivity and innovate business models, Vietnamese enterprises and organizations need to cooperate with large technology corporations in the world to research, develop, transfer and pioneer the application of new technologies and new models in Vietnam.

THE DEMAND FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF BUSINESSES IS HUGE

Sharing at the workshop “Digital Transformation 2024 – Driving force for Vietnam’s digital economic development” on September 30 organized by Investment Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Tuan Huy, Head of Digital Transformation Department, MobiFone Telecommunications Corporation, said that digital transformation is not simply the use of digital technology in socio-economic activities but also the process of establishing a new, advanced and modern production method. In particular, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), big data (Big Data), cloud computing (Cloud) are becoming important production tools in many industries and fields.

“Data is gasoline, AI is like the car, and humans are the talented drivers driving this car into a new era of development,” said Mr. Huy.

Therefore, the goal of digital transformation set by MobiFone is to increase the efficiency of business operations, thereby increasing labor productivity, work efficiency and improving service quality for customers. Digital transformation helps optimize business processes in all departments while eliminating work that does not bring value to the business.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Eric Yeo, General Director of AWS Vietnam, said that digital transformation is driving innovation in many industries and business scales. A recent report by IDC shows that by 2024, Vietnamese companies are expected to spend about 803 million USD on cloud computing. Along with that, many test results have also shown quite positive results.

“TymeX, a FinTech company in Vietnam serving the ASEAN market, used Amazon Q Developer to help app developers increase productivity by 40% and improve testing efficiency by 90%, reducing testing time from 5 hours to 30 minutes. This shows that cloud computing brings limitless opportunities in Vietnam, helping companies transform strongly,” said Mr. Eric Yeo.

According to Mr. Tran Minh Tuan, Director of the Department of Digital Economy and Digital Society, Ministry of Information and Communications, up to now, the digital economy continues to spread to all sectors and fields in life. According to data from the Ministry of Information and Communications, by 2023, the digital economy will account for about 16.5% of GDP; of which, the ICT industry will account for nearly 60%, and the digital economy of industries/fields will account for more than 40%.

“However, the digital economy in all industries/fields will continue to grow and there will be new economic models as the application of the digital economy in life increases,” Mr. Tuan commented.

MODERNIZING DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Although the digital economy will accelerate in the future, to meet this acceleration, developing digital infrastructure is considered a core, breakthrough solution to help the economy transform digitally faster, meeting the explosive demand for connection and data processing, which plays an important role for Vietnam.

According to Ms. Rita Mokbel, President of Ericsson Vietnam, in addition to investing in physical infrastructure such as seaports and highways, governments are also investing in digital infrastructure as an important solution to boost the economy. 5G is providing a competitive advantage for pioneering countries.

5G is growing rapidly and becoming popular globally, accounting for 22% of total global mobile subscriptions. From the current 1.9 billion subscriptions, it is forecast to increase to 5.6 billion 5G subscriptions, accounting for 60% of global mobile subscriptions.

“People think of 5G as a mobile broadband system, but the power of 5G goes much further, when combined with cloud computing and artificial intelligence,” said Rita Mokbel.

Citing some countries with fast 5G network deployment speeds in the world such as India and Malaysia, Ms. Rita Mokbel said that these countries all predict that 5G will contribute an important proportion to the digital economy of each country.

“The role of the Government is very important in building a policy framework, removing barriers, and supporting operators in deploying 5G. In Vietnam, the Government strongly supports telecommunications operators, considering 5G an important national infrastructure to accelerate digital transformation and promote the digital economy in the coming time,” said Ms. Rita Mokbel.

It is predicted that digital transformation, digital economy, digital market, especially the development of AI in Vietnam will develop like a “storm” in the next few years. Mr. Hoang Viet Tien, Deputy General Secretary, Vietnam Digital Communications Association, believes that with such development, Vietnam needs a digital platform, especially solutions to support the development of digital infrastructure, focusing on training, education and end users.

“To implement digital transformation and digital infrastructure in the new phase, the participation of all parties is required. In particular, end consumers need to be trained. And, solution-infrastructure providers need to offer user-friendly solutions. State management agencies need to issue specific and appropriate decrees, circulars and instructions,” said Mr. Tien.

Proposing for Vietnam, Mr. Alejandro Osorio, CEO, Grab Vietnam, suggested that there should be a more friendly environment for digital services.

“Technology is evolving very quickly and the digital economy is also innovating at a rapid pace. Therefore, management levels need to supplement policies and environments (like sandboxes) to welcome new potential technologies as they emerge,” Mr. Osorio stated.