The 2019 Vietnam Information Technology Outsourcing (VNITO) Conference kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City on October 24, centering on a series of programs and activities aimed at promoting innovation, digitalization and technology application in Vietnam.

A foreign visitor drops by a booth at the conference. The 2019 Vietnam Information
Technology Outsourcing (VNITO) Conference kicked off in HCMC on October 24
– Photo: Chi Thinh 

Tran Phuc Hong, deputy general director of software outsourcing firm TMA Solutions, said that the firm is enhancing its innovation activities by applying new technology and offering training courses for engineers on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and Blockchain.

TMA Solutions recently developed an innovation park in the coastal city of Quy Nhon in the central province of Binh Dinh to conduct research on innovation projects.

Pham Thi Tuyet Loan, technical director at NashTech Vietnam, a member of Harvey Nash Group in the United Kingdom, listed some key factors of the application of new technologies, including Wifi Mesh, automation and robots, IoT and AI, at the event.

Applying new technology to the innovation process is expected to pose challenges and create opportunities for firms. Firms and startups that successfully apply new technology will gain further ground in their business, Loan said.

Speaking of the city’s startup ecosystem, Pham Thiet Hoa, director of the HCMC Investment and Trade Promotion Center, said that HCMC has witnessed ongoing innovation waves and startup booms. The number of startups in the city accounts for 50% of the country’s total, he added.

The city launched a four-year program in the 2016-2020 period to develop the startup ecosystem, supporting small and medium firms in reaching out to the global market, Hoa said.

Lam Nguyen Hai Long, CEO of Quang Trung Software City Development Company and chairman of VNITO Alliance, pointed out that Vietnam has had 3,000 startups as of this year and the number is on the rise.

Vietnam’s tech firms are following the global trend toward the application and development of new technology in most fields in the fourth industrial revolution, Long explained.

At the event, VNITO Alliance signed cooperation agreements with six international organizations, with three from Japan and three others from South Korea, to boost trade promotion activities and strengthen cooperation with foreign countries in the information technology field.