Find the knot to solve the problem of digital transformation in Vietnam

Find the knot to solve the problem of digital transformation in Vietnam

The digital skills of the people, the innovation capacity of businesses and the accessibility, quality and security of information are the factors that determine whether Vietnam can catch up and surpass other countries in terms of digital transformation.

In the previous article, VietNamNet pointed out the current status of Vietnam's digital transformation through reports of international organizations and opinions of experts. In this article, domestic and foreign experts will offer solutions to help Vietnam take advantage of its strengths and overcome its weaknesses to build a digital nation.

The knots to solve the problem of digital transformation in Vietnam

According to Mr. Jacques Morisset is the World Bank Lead Economist and Program Leader for Vietnam, for a successful digital transformation, Vietnam must have a good infrastructure which is constantly maintained, upgraded and modernized. Vietnam also needs to ensure the speed of telecommunications infrastructure.

“We believe that Vietnam has done well and will continue to do well because that is what the Government and the private sector have done very well in the past time,” the expert shared.

According to the World Bank's lead economist, it will take Vietnam about 25 years to reach the current level of Thailand in terms of digital skills. So Vietnam must go faster by upgrading everyone's digital skills.

Mr. Jacques Morisset also warned that businesses may be afraid to spend money to pay for training courses for employees. When the employees have finished training, they will probably move to another more competitive place. Therefore, Vietnam may fall into a situation where businesses do not invest, or invest inadequately in digital skills.

This expert said that the government needs to intervene more by providing finance for workers and training enterprises.The second priority is to encourage businesses to adopt new technologies. This is very important in digital transformation because the world changes so fast.

To solve this problem, Vietnam needs two groups of businesses: big pioneers and startups. Therefore, the Government needs to invest more, subsidize and create incentives for banks and financial markets to invest in startups and digital talent.

The last thing that the World Bank expert emphasized is that Vietnam needs to strengthen the accessibility and quality of information.

In summary, when suggesting the direction for Vietnam's digital transformation, Mr. Jacques Morisset said that the three main solutions are to have the right digital skills, the innovation capacity of businesses and the accessibility as well as information quality and security. These are the factors that determine whether Vietnam can catch up and surpass other countries in digital transformation.

According to digital transformation expert Tran Huu Quyen - Chairman of VNPT Technology (a member of VNPT Group), for successful and effective digital transformation, people, employees and managers need to have the right skills, so-called "digital skills". However, according to this expert, digital skills are a necessary condition but not a decisive factor.

Digital transformation of organizations and businesses in general and of Vietnam in particular is new, unprecedented, different in each business, so Mr. Quyen believes that it cannot be applied in a mechanical and rational way, reference models as well as experiences from other businesses.

Therefore, for successful digital transformation, Vietnamese businesses need to be proactive and creative in their activities. Broadly speaking, innovation capacity is essential to the existence and development of organizations and businesses today in the context of a globally integrated economy.

Besides, for successful digital transformation, according to Mr. Quyen, business leaders need to change their thinking and awareness about digital technology and digital transformation, thereby leading to the preparation of capacity and determination to transform.

In addition, organizations and businesses need to seriously build a roadmap with corresponding digital transformation programs for each field and each period. Along with that is the serious implementation from investment in technology infrastructure, people to the adjustment of operating models and processes accordingly.

Vietnam will successfully transform to become a digital country

Once shared his opinion on the latest report of the World Bank, Mr Hoang Anh Tu - Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation (Ministry of Information and Communications) affirmed that the country's digital transformation and digital economy development  based on the development of science and technology is the path that Vietnam has chosen.

The Government has issued the National Digital Transformation Program with 3 pillars: digital government, digital economy and digital society. Vietnam's goal by 2025 is that the digital economy contributes 20% of GDP, is 100,000 digital technology enterprises, Vietnam will be the best place in the region for digital businesses to do business and succeed, Vietnam will become the digital nation.

According to Mr. Hoang Anh Tu, there are two things that will definitely happen. The first thing is digital transformation, digital technology will continue to develop and the second thing is that Vietnam will overcome the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic and soon return to the new normal.

"Each report will look at the road to tomorrow from a different perspective. But the roads will eventually lead to one thing in common, which is a prosperous and happy Vietnam.", the expert shared.