Technology conference gazes into crystal ball

The world has entered an era of great technological development, which has changed people’s lifestyles, even in Viet Nam, Nhip Cau Dau Tu (Investment Bridge) magazine’s technology conference has heard.

“We would like to show how leading technologies, including blockchain, artificial intelligence, network security, and e-commerce can change life and help the Vietnamese business community achieve breakthroughs," Dang Nhat Minh, editor-in-chief of the magazine said at the first Tech Summit in HCM City on September 12.

David Lang, chief product officer of Infinity Blockchain Labs, said by 2030 the value of blockchain would reach US$2 trillion.

“Blockchain is a trusted platform. It has created more jobs and more nations have welcomed blockchain enterprises with looser regulations.

“Despite the fact that the electronic money market has significantly decreased, other blockchain applications have strongly developed in the banking system and supply chain and to meet other social demands.”

According to CNN, last year the blockchain market was worth nearly $1 trillion.

Infinity Blockchain Labs has applied blockchain technology in tracking agricultural products in Viet Nam.

“In the near future people will use blockchain technology like the internet and we can imagine that each company will build its own trustworthy network based on blockchain technology and then connect them together,” Lang said.

Vietnamese start-up companies should pay attention to artificial intelligence (AI), the conference heard.

According to US market research company Tractica, by 2025 AI applications will be worth $60 billion.

The latest trends in AI are to imitate the human nervous system and get machines to speak various languages.

Nguyen Tuan Anh, technology director at Microsoft Asia-Pacific, said: “Human ingenuity is unique, no machine can compare it. It can adapt, imagine and invent, but AI cannot.

“AI is to amplify and supplement human ingenuity.

“AI must go with Big data because AI cannot work efficiently without Big data while Big data is less useful without AI.

“When AI can be integrated into smart operation systems, it can help humans connect systems and supervise all important fields like transport, administration, medicine, housing, education, and culture.

“AI brings precise production, saves expenditure, makes human life more comfortable, and creates opportunities for enterprises.”

Hoang Tuan Hai, chief product officer at Hewlett Packard Viet Nam, said cyber attacks had doubled last year.

“In Viet Nam, 70 per cent of cyber attacks are done by malware in end-user equipments.

“Network security is very important for personal connected equipment like computers, mobile phones, even printers because data is now valuable in the industry 4.0 era.”

Tran Ngoc Thai Son, founder and CEO of Tiki, said if any company wants to enter the billion-dollar club it should start with social networks, electronic payments and e-commerce.

“In Southeast Asia, Viet Nam is considered to have great potential, only behind Indonesia, because of its population and youth.

“In 2017 retail turnover was $130 billion with annual growth of 9 per cent, while e-commerce only accounted for 2 per cent.

“In future the figure will increase 10 fold to 20 per cent.”

He advised Vietnamese investors to focus on warehousing, which is expected to boom soon to meet the rapid growth in e-commerce.

“Investors can make big bets and win big with big e-commerce companies, or bet small but win big with emerging models.”

Forum for IT engineers held in HCM City   

Over 50 IT engineers took part in the first ever Engineering Meetups.   

Over 50 IT engineers took part in the first ever Engineering Meetups organised by Japanese mobile app developer LINE Viet Nam in HCM City on Wednesday.

Two speakers, Nguyen Toan Tien and Minh Tran, shared their experience in “Evolving Java and the JVM: Mobile, Micro and Modular” and “Java 9 – Modularity” and then took questions from the attendees.

“LINE Viet Nam has a serious plan to develop an information forum for the engineering community, and we were all motivated to continuously organise other technical-related events very soon,” Jeon Je Eon, head of LINE Viet Nam, said.

The idea of organising meet-ups came from the LINE global mission of “Closing the distance” which seeks to bring people, information and services closer together.

LINE Corporation launched a messaging app in June 2011 and since then has grown into a diverse, global eco-system that includes AI technology and fintech. 

FPT introduces three new products and celebrates 30th anniversary

FPT introduced the new version of artificial intelligence FPT.AI ver3 at the event. — Photo vietnamplus.vn

FPT introduced three new technology products at its 30th anniversary and FPT Techday 2018 on Wednesday.

The first is a new version of artificial intelligence FPT.AI ver3 with new features such as creating chat scripts, selecting messages for different clients, automatically analysing customer needs and managing messages with customers.

In addition, the firm unveilved voice control devices Voice Remote for FPT Play Box users and comprehensive digital conversion solution for enterprises aka RPA, helping automate processes to help businesses improve their productivity and cut labour costs.

The programme has attracted more than 3,000 guests from the Government, ministries, businesses and the technology community in Viet Nam and around the world. This is the largest event in the history of 30 years of FPT.

Established on September 13, 1988, FPT has had 30 years of pioneering in information technology and telecommunications, from bringing world technology to Viet Nam to putting Vietnamese intelligence on the map.

FPT is the largest private ICT company in Viet Nam, with more than 33,000 employees in 33 countries and territories. 

Predator fans chance to go on Hollywood tour

Kaspersky Lab is partnering with 20th Century Fox for a promotional campaign for the movie “The Predator”. 

 Kaspersky Lab has partnered with 20th Century Fox for the launch of a promotional campaign for the movie “The Predator” in which seven winners will get a chance to go on a Hollywood FOX Tour worth more than US$8,000.

The promo will be held in 11 countries and territories in the APAC region, Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

A total of seven winners from the participating countries will win tours while 1,000 others will receive limited edition Predator gift sets worth $25 each.

Vo Duong Tu Diem, territory manager, Kaspersky Lab, said: “Being cybersecurity experts, we want to make sure that the cyberworld is safe for everyone from all kinds of threats. Our job is pretty much parallel to the role of the good guys in the Predator movie as we are hunting the hunters to make the world a little safer from cybercriminals.”

Helmed by American actor Shane Black, who also directed the Lethal Weapon series and Iron Man 3, The Predator features an action-packed conflict between the lethal alien hunters, who return to Earth, against a disgruntled science teacher, a crew of retired soldiers, and a boy who has an extraordinary ability to learn languages.

Information on how to join the promo is available at http://apac-promo-kaspersky.com.

Grab partners with Moca for payment services

Grab Company Ltd and MOCA Technology and Service Joint Stock Company (Moca) on Tuesday in Ha Noi announced a strategic partnership to promote cashless payments on the Grab platform in Viet Nam.

Moca and Grab will leverage each others’ technology expertise and partner networks to roll out payment services to millions of Vietnamese consumers and SMEs.

Moca was granted a license for payment services by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in 2016 and has a network of 11 local banks as partners for their service.

“This strategic collaboration with Moca marks an important milestone for Grab in Viet Nam as we seek to accelerate our growth in one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia,” said Nguyen Tuan Anh, head of Grab Financial Group Viet Nam​.

The companies did not give further details on the partnership, but said they expect to launch their joint service in October.

“Consumers are leading increasingly digital lifestyles. The strategic partnership helps promote this digital lifestyle, and we expect exponential growth of mobile payments driven by Moca and Grab across Viet Nam,” said Tran Thanh Nam​, co-founder and CEO of Moca​.

In March 2017, Grab established an R&D centre in HCM City and officially launched the centre a few weeks ago, which is part of a global R&D network of six centres that includes Bangalore, Beijing, Jakarta, Seattle and Singapore.

Grab and Moca will collaborate to offer consumers and SMEs in Viet Nam more mobile payment facilities starting from the last quarter of the year.

Tan Hooi Ling, co-Founder of Grab, said they would continue their investment into Viet Nam through technology, human resources and partnerships with local companies to increase the firm’s presence in the country.

“Viet Nam’s growth is so fast that we speak about the numbers on a month-on-month not year-on-year basis,” she said.

Over the past month, Grab’s food delivery grew by 2.2 times from the previous month, delivery 22 per cent and use of non-cash payments for transport increased by 21 per cent.

She said the figures were expected to continue rising. They targeted to have a half of the Vietnamese population using Grab services by 2020.

Grab said it has 175,000 drivers and bikers across the country.