Digital transformation: Vietnam’s ICT industry in 2021
On December 30, 2021, the Vietnam Information Technology Journalists Club (ICT Press Club) announced the 10 main ICT events in 2021 in which the imprint of digital transformation was outstanding.
Technology to help fight against the Covid-19 pandemic
Nguyen Viet Phu, President of ICT Press Club, said that 2021 is the second year that the Covid-19 pandemic affects the entire socio-economy of Vietnam. During the pandemic, technology still plays a huge role in the prevention of Covid. The government directed to develop a single epidemic prevention application, PC-Covid. In addition, Vietnam launched the Covid-19 vaccination management platform to support the largest vaccination campaign in history with 5 million injections/day, operating in 63/63 cities and provinces in the country.
In order to serve the direction of management and prevention of the Covid epidemic, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Head of the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, assigned the Ministry of Information and Communications to direct and immediately deploy the connection of the online conference system to all communes, wards and towns nationwide.
Digital transformation takes center stage
In 2021, the highlight of Vietnam's ICT picture was digital transformation. The Prime Minister approved the e-Government development strategy towards digital government in the 2021-2025 period. This strategy plays an important role, opening a new turning point and development of digital government. With the approval of the e-Government development strategy by 2025, the concept of "Digital Government" was introduced for the first time by the Prime Minister. Digital government is essentially e-Government, supplemented with changes in approach and implementation thanks to the digital technology.
In order to serve the e-Government towards a Digital Government, from July 1, 2021, the National Population Database system officially connected with ministries, branches and localities to state agencies, social organizations, businesses and people.
2021 was also the year that online learning became a central issue during the pandemic. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh launched the program "Internet and computers for children", to help millions of disadvantaged children study online in the provinces under social distancing.
One of the highlights in 2021 in Vietnam's ICT picture was the fact that three major carriers in Vietnam including Viettel, VNPT, and MobiFone are licensed and pilot Mobile Money. This service provides financial services to people without bank accounts, people in remote areas, border areas, islands, and people who do not have access to financial services via mobile phones.
Mobile Money is a tool to promote financial inclusion, a non-cash payment tool in line with the Government's orientation. With a wide coverage of mobile phone subscribers, Mobile Money is also an effective tool in digital transformation in the digital economy.
Investment capital in startups at record growth
In the gloomy context due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the picture of Vietnam's ICT in 2021 had bright spots when investment capital in startups in Vietnam hit a record, with more than 1.35 billion USD. The areas attracting capital inflows were financial technology (FinTech), Blockchain Game, Education Technology (edtech), Healthcare - Pharmaceutical, E-commerce Startup. Vietnam has had about 3,800 startups, with 3 unicorns (VNG, VNLife, MoMo) and 11 startups valued at over 100 million USD such as Tiki, Topica Edtech... The biggest deals are MoMo with 300 million USD, Tiki 258 million USD, VNLife 250 million USD, Sky Mavis 152 million USD, Equest 100 million USD…
10 outstanding ICT events in 2021
1- The Prime Minister approved the e-Government development strategy towards digital government
2- The National Database on Population is officially operational
3- Three mobile networks licensed to pilot Mobile Money services
4- Launching PC Covid - the national application for Covid-19 epidemic prevention
5- The government connects online to all communes, wards and towns nationwide
6- Launching a vaccination management platform for the largest vaccination campaign in history
7- The Prime Minister is the Chairman of the National Committee on Digital Transformation
8- The Prime Minister launched the program "Internet and computers for children"
9- Axie Infinity with billion USD capitalization and Vietnam game blockchain phenomenon on the world map
10- Investment in creative startups in Vietnam increased again with more than 1.3 billion USD.
Nguồn: VNN