VietNamNet Bridge – Few State-owned groups and corporations have chief information officer (CIO), according to a recent survey conducted by the Party Committee for the Centrally-governed Enterprises.

The survey conducted at 19 out of 32 State-owned conglomerates shows that only 16% of State groups and corporations interviewed said they have CIOs. The survey also indicates poor awareness at many State-owned companies about investments in IT applications.

While IT is considered an effective solution to support and foster the restructuring, operational renovations and competitiveness improvement at local enterprises, IT investments and knowledge of State-owned companies are still inadequate and inconsistent.

The 19 companies surveyed had invested a total of VND16 billion in IT training and more than VND800 billion in IT applications as of 2012. The investments mainly focused on IT equipment while software application investments remain insignificant at these enterprises.

Meanwhile, their most popular software applications are just emails, security warning applications, anti-virus software and software products on document, personnel and accounting management.

Notably, two IT applications deemed as the most important due to their contribution to improving competitiveness post the lowest rates, with only 11% using customer relationship management software and 28% enterprise resources planning solutions, says the report.

According to the report, the biggest difficulty in IT applications at such State firms is the poor awareness of IT among staff members (67%), improper supporting policies and environment for IT investment projects (50%), costly IT application expenses (40%) and insufficient operators (39%).

Source: SGT