Vietnam Business Forum interviewed Nguyen Long, general secretary of the Vietnam Association for Information Processing, about activities of the association and its support for the Vietnam information and communication technology (ICT) community in Vietnam
What are your remarks on Vietnamese ICT in 2006?
I think Vietnamese ICT was one year later than its original plan in 2006. At the end of 2006, Vietnam was still at the beginning of the ICT programme for the 2006-2010 period. Nonetheless, there were good signs, especially after Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung acted as head of the national ICT steering board and the National Assembly approved the law regulating activities of ICT. However, the building and implementation of the law remained slow while co-operation among agencies and ministries for ICT development was still poor. There was not any agreement for a national development strategy of ICT
What activities will you promote in the coming time to provide more support for the Vietnamese ICT community?
At first, we will organise regularly such activities as the first ‘ICT award for lighting hope for the disabled’, a seminar on Vietnamese ICT and conferences with member ICT associations, as well as the 16th Vietnamese ICT Week, the 16th ICT Olympiad, and the second ACM/ICPC contest in Vietnam. In particular, we will develop a report on ICT Index 2007.
We will actively join national programmes on trade promotion, open source software, ICT application and e-commerce promotion in enterprises. In particular, we will boost co-operation with ICT organisations in Vietnam and foreign countries. Accordingly, our main trade promotion activities will focus on the exploration of the German and French markets in combination with the working visit to the Hanover International Fair, and the exploration of the ASEAN market, sending business delegations to ICT fairs in these countries.
In 2007, we will implement three projects on building history of Vietnamese ICT, socialising open source software for the 2007-2010 period and the building of an ICT university in the 2007-2010 period. We are calling for co-operation and support from social organisations, enterprises, managers, scientists and investors to successfully build and implement the three projects.
What are the purposes of the projects on socialising open source software and building an ICT university?
Respecting copyright, Vietnam should find substitute products when the country has not enough economic and financial strength to buy package products of major groups in the world. The project on socialising open source software aims at calling scientists and people within the open source community to help Vietnamese low income earners to use open source software without violating Vietnam’s international integration commitments. Accordingly, we will organise seminars on selecting suitable development methods, build a support and training centre, and bring open source software to each enterprise.
Regarding the building of an ICT university, we consider it a necessary work. In recent years, young people have certain knowledge of ICT. However, Vietnam still lacks an internationally standardised market in terms of ICT certificates for network, graphic and open source software. In the international integration process, the Vietnamese education system should develop specialised training for students. We, therefore, are striving to promote co-operation with prestigious international organisations to bring the education form to Vietnam.
Reported by Nguyen Thoa
Vietnamese
