Microsoft is one of the world’s most popular names today when it comes to computer software, but also with empowering global institutions.

Anthony Salcito, vice president, Public Sector
and Government at Microsoft Worldwide 

VIR’s Nguyen Huong talked with Anthony Salcito, vice president, Public Sector and Government at Microsoft Worldwide, about the corporation’s close work with the Vietnamese government to help reach towards becoming a smarter, safer, and more sustainable nation.

A good deal of production and work around the globe would be unimaginable without Microsoft’s products which are enabling entire industries to improve productivity. What do you see as Microsoft’s mission in the 21st century?

This almost hits on our core mission as a company, to help empower every person and every institution on the planet to achieve more. We do this through small- and medium-sized enterprises and large businesses in every country and every economy around the world through bringing the power of technology to help unlock human potential.

We start very small with students to help them, lift their expectations of how they can drive their talent to solve modern day problems, helping businesses connect and connect data to solve challenges, and then help governments bring better digital services to all.

Microsoft works towards this mission across everything that we do across the company and we are living through incredible times where the promise of technology is being met with great innovation across advancements in things like cloud computing, big data, and AI that are really bringing the promise of technology to real innovation.

Microsoft is currently working closely with the Vietnamese government on a Build-Protect-Educate model. Can you share what the pillars of this co-operation will involve?

This is a part of the Vietnamese government’s desire to transform and create, not only bringing economic stability and sustainability for the country but bring improved services to citizens. Microsoft is partnering with the government in three core fields – build, protect, and educate.

The build side is all about how we enhance the citizen services that are provided, whether its improved transport or services to digitise transactions, bringing much more modern experiences to Vietnam.

Protect is about helping to protect citizens, starting with very young children and all the way through advanced citizens across the cities and country of Vietnam – while keeping data safe throughout all this. Protect is not only about helping keep our people safe, protecting the data that the government is dealing with is also key.

Lastly, and most importantly in many cases,we will work to create a foundation for digital future by empowering students in the classrooms to fuel their passion for industry, connecting their skills and talents with the workforce opportunities that are coming forward to not only fill the jobs that exist today but create new industries and capacity, helping educate all citizens with a foundation of digital literacy, which is going to be critical for the future.

Microsoft and the government chose build, protect, educate as our focus going forward, and Microsoft has long-term plans across all of them. For example, we recently announced with the Ministry of Public Security that we have created an app called Joy 111, where citizens can report incidents on child abuse.

Joy 111 is available on the Android and iOS platforms. You can download the application and anytime you see or have concerns about abuse, you can file a report, just like you would do by dialing 111.

The devices that all of us have in our hands can help enable citizens to easily provide insight to government officials to fight against abuse.If you can expand the voice and the impact of citizens, you can drive great change.

We are working on a range of initiatives and I think you’ll see a number of initiatives across each of these three pillars over the coming years as we work with the government.

What other possible areas of co-operation do you foresee with the Vietnamese government?

One of the big areas that I am very passionate about is the work on educating. We are going to be meeting with some amazing educators across the country, both digitally and physically here in Hanoi.

The power and foundation of the future starts in the classroom. This is a strength of Vietnam, with the power of and the focus on educators and the talent within the students.

We have to enable those students to unleash their voice, to get connected to the capabilities and skills needed for the modern workforce. Microsoft is investing a lot in providing tools to help get students trained and ready for this new world.

Our projects involve everything from courses and certifications through helping students get job-ready in this new economy and to helping students see the world differently with tools like Minecraft.

We enable all this through the great work we do with educators and school leaders to support their transformation and transition into this new way of teaching and learning.