The 23rd Vietnam ICT Outlook (VIO 2018) workshop themed “Innovation in the Digital Era” kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City on July 26, attracting 1,500 delegates from ministries, departments, sectors, and local authorities nationwide. 

Visitors experience advanced technologies at the event 

The event – organised by the HCM City Computer Association with support from the Ministry of Information and Communications; the municipal People’s Committee; the Department of Information and Communications; and the Department of and Science and Technology – will see the participation of representatives from various associations, institutes, universities, consulate generals, trade promotion organisations, enterprises, incubators, and investment funds. 

Participants will focus on ways to improve the efficiency of connections among IT enterprises; IT application businesses; startup firms; and those researching and applying IT to State-owned enterprises, institutes, and investment funds towards realising cooperation programmes. 

In his opening speech, Chairman of the HCM City Computer Association Lam Nguyen Hai Long highlighted the importance of promoting digital transformation in enterprises and organisations. 

He said new technologies in cloud computing, big data, social network, mobility, data analysis, artificial intelligence and machine learning, Internet of Things, and cognitive computing have created a revolution in processing and exploiting huge data sources that are growing exponentially every day.

In this technological era, digital data is a key asset for enterprises, at the crux of digital transformation and innovation and helping businesses to reach greater success, he stressed. 

The latest research from the International Data Group forecasts that digital transformation will contribute about 1.16 trillion USD to the GDP of the Asia-Pacific region, with an annual growth of 0.8 percent, he said, stressing that this demonstrates the great potential of digital transformation for economic development in general and for enterprises in particular. 

Surveys conducted in the Vietnamese market for trade associations, especially those with high export contents (such as the fibre, wood, and textile and garments industries) or those directly related to consumers (such as retail and pharmacy sectors), showed that the majority of enterprises were in constant demand of IT application to operate effectively and gain higher profits. 

“Technology and solutions for digital transformation are available in a wide range of options on the market, provided by local and international companies” Long said. 

Understanding how to translate ICT knowledge into application for efficient and sustainable business management is a challenge facing many firms, he underscored.

During discussion sessions, experts said enterprises should promote the digitalisation of documents to reduce printing and save time for customers, as well as digitising workflow and management systems with cloud computing-based solutions. 

These steps towards digitalisation will encourage firms to start thinking innovatively about technology, potentially expanding on to larger applications such as enterprise resource planning management systems, big data, data analysis, and artificial intelligence, they said. 

Nguyen Hong Minh, Deputy General Director of Sao Bac Dau Technologies Corporation, suggested enterprises improve their competitiveness by enhancing their application of new technologies in business and production activities, saying that this is necessary for businesses to start their digital transformation roadmap. 

He also underlined the need for production enterprises to promote digital transformation, which will help enterprises optimise production resources and access their customers with more ease. 

Besides discussion sessions, the VIO 2018 will also feature a series of activities, including events to introduce new technologies; exhibitions displaying ITC solutions and services of domestic and foreign firms; a trade promotion programme titled “ Building Partner Ecosystems in the Digital Era”; and an exchange forum for startups and innovation firms.

Participants will also be treated with the opportunity to experience advanced technologies such as robots, 3D printing, and others displayed by several leading ITC firms. 

The VIO has run annually since 1995.–VNA