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[vnforum] - Mesg from "Tran Dinh Hoanh"
Dear All,
Attached please find a copy of the 2001-2005 IT Development Plan for HCMC.
Please kindly send your comments to Dr. Nguyen Thien Nhan at
thiennhan@bdvn.vnd.net
Have a great day!
Hoanh
________
Draft English
Status and the 2001-2005 IT Development Plan for HCMC
Dr. Nguyen Thien Nhan,Standing Vice-Chairman, HCMC People's Committee
Sections 1 & 2 of this report cover the HCMC IT industry as it is today,
including an evaluation of its strengths, weaknesses and a number of lessons
learned. This is followed with an analysis of the opportunities and threats
facing IT development in the City, and some lessons learned from other
countries.Section 3 & 4 outline the 2001-2005 HCMC IT Development Plan
including the Plan's three primary goals, six key success factors, seven
target programs and 12 major projects , aimed at developing the IT industry
during the 2001-2005 timeframe.
1.Status of the HCMC IT Industry
On 4 Aug 1993, the Vietnamese government issued Resolution 49/CP addressing
IT development in Vietnam. This was the Vietnamese Government's first
IT-related resolution, and it called for the establishment of both national
and local (province, city) level IT steering committees. The steering
committees are responsible for the formation of policy, development planning
and implementation of IT projects within their jurisdictions.
Resolution 49/CP marked an important step in the development of the IT
industry in Vietnam, with the resolution producing the following results
over the period 1993 -1999:
Rapid Modernization and development of Vietnam)B’s telecommunication system.
Realization of post-secondary IT education programs in 15 schools
nationwide, producing 3,500 graduates a year.
Computerization of organizations within the Government, business sector,
Hospitals, and research institutes (an estimated 500,000 PCs across the
country).
Vietnam produced its first locally branded PCs in 1998. These machines took
a 75% annual share of the PC market. A number of foreign or Joint venture
companies were also producing printed circuit boards and PC parts. At the
time there were more than 30 hardware manufacturers and over 30 software
companies. The software industry workforce then numbered about 3,000
workers.
Total IT sales for 1996 amounted to US $150M. For 1999 sales were US $220M,
or an average of US $2.8 per person per annum.
Initialization of 6 national databases for: socio-economic statistics,
finance-budgeting, land resources, demographics, public administration, laws
and regulations.
Over 60,000 Internet connections, one Internet Access Provider (IAP), five
Internet Service Provider (ISP) and 16 Internet Content Providers (ICP).
Even with these initial results, IT development in Vietnam is still very
weak:
For every 100 people, Vietnam has:
0.5 PC (globally 5.8, Switzerland 40);
18 televisions (globally 28, U.S. 80);
0.001 Internet users (globally 0.01, U.S. 23);
0.2 mobile phones (globally 4, Finland 41).
The year 2000 marked a new stage in Vietnam's IT development. From June 2000
through July 2001, the government issued six Resolutions relating to IT
development, the Ministry of Finance, the General Directorate of Posts and
Telecommunications, and the Ministry of Industry issued six papers detailing
specific policies for IT development. The Vietnam Communist Party Politburo)B’
s Directive 58-CT/TW issued on 17th Oct 2000 promoted the IT industry to the
forefront of the country)B’s industrialization-modernization drive for the
period 2000-2005.I
n addition to the national results, the initial IT development drive in HCMC
has so far produced the following results:
Implementation of two IT projects for government administration at the
district level for District 1 and Binh Chanh District.
Construction of a web site covering internal and foreign investment for the
City's Planning & Investment Service, a web site with information on the
operations of the Department of Science Technology & Environment (DoSTE),
and the building of an Internet information network integrating 12 city
departments.
Opening in May 2000 of the Saigon Software Park (over 20 participating
companies), opening of Quang Trung Software City in March 2001 (nearly 40
ha, with initial participation of over 30 companies and 600 workers. By
2005, it is anticipated there will be 5,000 workers there, generating total
revenues of US $100M).
The city has about 100 IT companies, almost 2,000 workers with college
degrees, and a number of internationally affiliated software training
centers.
In 2000 the city)B’s total IT market stood at about US $150M, or about 50% of
the national total.
The city)B’s ratio of PC and mobile phone users is 7-8 times that of the
national average.
In practice, when compared with the IT development of other countries in the
region, we see our IT strengths and weaknesses as:
Seven strong points of HCMC's IT development
The City's socio-economic development )B– it is the economic center of
Vietnam )B– creates the largest domestic hardware and software market;
The highest concentration of IT businesses, training centers and research
centers in Vietnam;
Favorable geographic position for IT development cooperation (U.S., European
and Japanese markets);
Lower labor costs than neighboring countries;Aptitude for learning and
strong adaptability of Vietnamese people;
Strong mathematical skills of Vietnamese people;Strong governmental support
for IT investment and development.
Seven weak points of HCMC's IT development
Quality of training and number of IT professionals cannot match the
competition from the rest of the world;
Weakness of English language skill is a major work and study limitation for
IT workers;
Telecommunication infrastructure cannot yet meet the expectations of
industry, the Government and research institutes in terms of capacity, or
quality and price of service. Telecommunications is a real impediment to
Vietnam's economic competitiveness;
The standard of management of business executives in the IT industry is
weak, lacking experience in offshore marketing and quality management;
There is no system or procedures in place to bring together IT businesses,
industry experts and researchers to rapidly and cost effectively develop the
industry;
High levels of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) violations stifle
development of the software industry and restrict foreign investment in IT;
No system is in place to make practical use of the skill contributions of
Overseas Vietnamese (OV) to developing the IT industry in the City.
Four lessons for HCMC
We must increase the responsibilities of the People)B’s Committee and the
Office of Science, Technology and the Environment, and other departments in
line with workload demands, the pace and complexity of developing the city)B’s
IT industry, and commensurate with the City's economic role in the nation's
economy;
We must build programs aimed at developing the IT industry with the full
participation five elements: business, government, education, scientific
research, and Overseas Vietnamese;
The rapid and effective development of the IT industry in general, and the
software industry in particular, demands strong motivation for the process.
Three simultaneous driving factors must be involved: market forces, state
regulation and national cultural identity;
We must collaborate with the world)B’s best software centers such as Bangalore
and Silicon Valley, and at the same time, explore other international
cooperation relationships to achieve knowledge parity at a cost-effective
rate and to create a favorable impression in the international marketplace.
II. Opportunities and Threats for HCMC IT Industry
Four opportunities:
The competitive nature of the market, and economic downturns in developed
countries will force companies to cut costs by using workforces of countries
with low labor costs, such as Vietnam;
Domestic hardware and software demand is growing by the day. This
increasingly large market creates opportunities for Vietnamese companies to
sell their products and services;
Numerous opportunities to enhance skill sets, transfer technology and
modernize production through international cooperation between governments,
international organizations and foreign companies;
Many Overseas Vietnamese hold key positions in companies, regional
management offices and Government. They can fill the role of finding and
identifying cooperation opportunities and expanding HCMC's market
penetration.
Three threats:
Geographic isolation and cultural gaps in understanding between the
Vietnamese IT labor force and the offshore market)B’s demand for the fastest,
cheapest and best;
Other countries and companies in the region are also making great efforts to
develop their own IT industries that would compete directly with Vietnam;
Vietnam does not yet show up on the world IT map. Many countries still have
doubts about the capabilities, management quality, the engineers)B’ and
workers in the Vietnamese IT industry, as well as Vietnam's policy
stability.
Six lessons from other countries:
IT Training must anticipate future international market demands for the
number and quality of IT professionals (the experience in Ireland and
India);
Internet - Telecommunications infrastructure must stay ahead of demand from
the IT industry (India and Malaysia);
English language skills must become one of the strengths of Vietnamese IT
workers if we are to be truly competitive;
Strong support and attention from the government at national and local
levels is a significant determinant for rapid development and results in IT;
A sufficiently strong legal environment compatible with other countries must
be created in the area of IP protection;
International cooperation opportunities must be maximized through business,
regional and international organizations and Governments in order to train
transfer knowledge rapidly and cheaply and open up markets.
III. Three Primary Development Goals
Prompted by the analysis above, the economic and geographic position of the
City and our socio-economic development strategy for the years 2001-2005,
HCMC has defined three primary IT development goals for the period 2001-2020
as follows:
To rapidly extend the use of IT into every socio-economic area of the City,
making it a key factor in raising our competitiveness, through low cost
modernization, improving management outcomes and administration mechanisms,
developing education and training and proactive integration to achieve
superior results;
To develop and build an IT industry for HCMC into an economic driving force
with high economic results and increasingly contributes to the internal
wealth of the City. In the period 2001-2005, the focus is on building the
software industry and clearly determining the content and way ahead for
development of the hardware industry;
To support other regions of the country in developing and using IT, and to
generally contribute strongly to the overall economic development and
modernization of society.
To implement the three goals above, six key success factors have been
determined:
Strong development of Human Resources in IT and Telecommunications, based on
developing "leapfrog training" in IT, link together the most important
research institutes and link training and research to production;
Rapid, advance development of telecommunications Infrastructure to ensure
that telecommunications always clears the path to development and use of IT;
Immediately fully implement the legal structures required for intellectual
property rights and e-commerce, and guarantee enforcement of the law;
Collaboration and cooperation between government, business and scientific
research centers to define market objectives for the software and hardware
industries, and to encourage investment in new product development and
strengthen exports;
Work with the national Government to formulate and implement complimentary
national and city policies to attract investment against the backdrop of
regional and international competition;
Establish an organizational mechanism appropriate to managing and
strengthening information technology and telecommunications development in
order to extend these important tasks during the next 10 years.
IV. HCMC IT Development Plan 2001-2005
From the three primary goals and six key factors above, the HCMC IT
development plan proposes the following seven target programs, 12 projects
and 10 guidelines:
IV.1 Seven Target Programs
City IT and telecommunications human resources development.
By 2005, train an additional 20,000 IT specialists, including 50 Ph.D.)B’s,
200 Masters and 2,000 from other provinces (as per demand from the
provinces);
All university IT faculties and at least 50% of the 2 year basic training
courses to have training programs linked with prestigious foreign
institutes.
100% of high schools to have standardized IT training programs;
Universities and Research institutes to cooperate and collaborate with
prestigious overseas organisations to build and implement scienctific
research programs for technology innovation and development of new products;
Responsible Authorities: Department of Science, Technology and Environment
of HCMC (IT and Telecommunications Development Section), National University
of HCMC, HCMC Department of Education and Training.
Broadband Telecommunications Infrastructure Development
Guarantee capacity and value-added services for the software development
industry;
By the end of 2005, 100% of businesses wishing to do so, schools, hospitals
and 10% of households to be connected to Internet;
The level of Internet service quality to surpass Bangkok in 2005;
Responsible authorities: HCMC Post & Teelecom
English Language teaching reform forhigh school, university, and universal
usage in IT.
Demonstrably raise English teaching effectiveness and usage skillsfor school
pupils and university students. University graduates must be able to
communicate in English;
IT professionals and businessmen must have excellent English communication
skills to gradually eliminate the impression that )B“Vietnamese are bad at
English)B”, and replace it with the impression that “Vietnamese are good at
English)B”;
Responsible authorities: HCMC Department of Education and Training; National
University of HCMC; DOSTE (IT and Telecommunications Development Section);
Cooperation of Overseas Vietnamese is needed.
Improvement the legal framework for IT developemnt.
Petition Government and the Ministries and participate with them in
promulgating the regulations essential for intellectual property and
e-commerce (2001-2002);
Establish a system for oversight and execution of intellectual property laws
in HCMC;Program collaborating with companies to encourage the purchase
copyrighted software;
Responsible authorities: HCMC Department of Culture and Information; HCMC
Department of Science, Technology and Environment (IT and Telecommunications
Development Section)
Linking research institutes, business and state management in order to
define target market, encourage investment, develop new products and
stimulate exports.
Coordinate the three groups (scientific research, business and state
management) to investigate and publish annual trends in the IT market by
area, product group , technological innovation, and raise issues which need
to be addressed;
Establish an R&D Fund into new products and technologies (from the City's
annual budget), bring together the three groups to use the fund in the most
effective way;
Coordinate the three groups to petition investment incentive schemes and
identify the fields and products which are important to the IT development
of the City, and which require investment incentives;
Coordinate the three groups to set up a mechanism to support software
exports (through domestic trade fairs, export promotions at fairs held
overseas, etc.);
Prizes for IT products in HCMC's anuual creative science and technology
competitions;
Responsible authorities: HCMC Department of Science, Technology and
Environment (IT and Telecommunications Development Section); HCMC Computer
Association, HCMC Trade Promotion Center, HCMC Department of Planning and
Investment, Overseas Vietnamese Council.
Establish 300 new companies.
Provide assistance so that by the end of 2005, there are at least 300 new
software companies in operation, including at least three with over 500
programmers;
Establish a business support program for ISO 9000, CMM, and IT Project
Management Training.Responsible authorities: HCMC Computer Association,
Electronics and Informatics Association, HCMC Department of Science,
Technology and Environment (IT and Telecommunications Development Section).
Contract Labor for 2,000 IT professionals.
Provide at least 2,000 contract IT professionals, concentrated on
high-demand markets, such as North America, Europe and Japan.Responsible
authorities: Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs;
HCMC Department of Science, Technology and Environment (IT and
Telecommunications Development Section).
IV.2. Twelve major projects
Computerization of state management- e-government in HCMC
Computerization of management systems at departments,, district, and HCMC
People's Committee (and Party) offices will begin in 2002, reaching the same
level as Bangkok in 2005;
Implement online communications for Citizens )B– Government – Business via the
City's network (from 2002).
Responsible authorities: People's Committees at all levels; relevant
departments; HCMC Department of Science, Technology and Environment (IT and
Telecommunications Development Section).
Computerization of education systems-distance learning
Apply IT in managing the education system and in teaching (corresponding to
each subject);
Implement distance learning from high schools to higher education,
(commensurate with demand and actual conditions);
Starting in 2002, reaching the level as Malaysia in 2005.
Responsible authorities: HCMC of Education and Training Department; National
University of HCMC.
IT Training Center atQuang Trung Software City Training (QTSC)
Establish a new IT training center of international standardswith a capacity
of 2,000 students/year. To specifically service the demand for human
resource of high standard to supply companies in QTSC and for overseas
contract professionals;
The project has been approved in principle by the Government, and financed
at US $2.5M;
Implementation: 2002.
Responsible authorities: HCMC Department of Science, Technology and
Environment (IT and Telecommunications Development Section); Cooperation of
Overseas Vietnamese is needed.
Advanced IT Research Institute at QTSC
Establish a advanced IT Research Institute, specifically integrating IT
research with to mathematics, physics and biology, as a strong research
center to simulate natural and technological processes. With an excellent
working environment, as modern as those overseas.
Implement research and training for Ph.D. and masters degrees in IT;
Transfer new technologies to, and take on research requests from entreprises
located in QTSC and elsewhere;
Implementation: 2003.
Responsible authorities: HCMC Department of Science, Technology and
Environment (IT and Telecommunications Development Section); Cooperation of
Overseas Vietnamese is needed.
IT )B– Telecommunications Office Tower
Construction of an office tower (10-15 storeys) in downtown HCMC as/to/for:
The country's largest IT and Telecommunications retail center (a technology
mall);
Space for Rep. Offices for 300 international IT companies;
Space for IT conferences, training, technology transfer seminars etc. for
foreign and domestic IT and Telecommunications companies;
An IT and Telecommunications museum;Provide an electronic marketplace for:
jobs, real estate, future agricultural products, etc.;
Host virtual exhibitions: Vietnamese and international tourism, Vietnamese
history, etc.;
Host robotics exhibitions, by Vietnamese individuals and companies; and hold
national and international robotics competitions.
Implementation: 2003
Responsible authorities: HCMC Department of Science, Technology and
Environment (IT and Telecommunications Development Section), requires
Cooperation with many other authorities.
Computerization of healthcare management and City health network
Continue to develop IT hospital management systems currently underway;Step
up efforts towards remote Q&A, guidance and diagnosis;
Implementation: Reach a standard similar to Singapore by 2005.
Responsible authorities: HCMC Health Service.
Online Technology Market
Build a database of equipment and technology available for sale in Vietnam,
especially the results of Vietnamese research;
Provide online trading of technology equipment over a city network;
Implementation: From 2002.Responsible authorities: HCMC Department of
Science, Technology and Environment.
Online Job Market
Build a database of labor supply and demand in all fields, training schools
and vocational centers, number rankings of annual graduates from
universities, induprofessional and vocational schools in HCMC;
Provide connection between labor supply and demand sides and provide job
training via the internet;
Implementation: 2003.
Responsible authorities: HCMC Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social
Affairs.
Online Real Estate Market
Build a database of real estate supply and demand in HCMC;Provide connection
between real estate supply and demand sides, and organize online auctions;
Implementation: 2003.
Responsible authorities: HCMC Department of Land and Housing.
Electronic Commerce
Collaborate with national e-commerce programs, provide training to business
proprietors, improve networking of banks, tax authorities, customs offices
and enterprises;
Implementation: Planned for 2003.
Responsible authorities: HCMC Trade Service Department.
Technology Infrastructure Management via Geographic Information System (GIS)
Build a regularly updateable database on road, water supply and drainage,
power and telecommunications systems;
Use information to serve the leadership and the people via GIS;
Implementation: 2003.
Responsible authorities: HCMC Department of Science, Technology and
Environment.
Quang Trung Software City A software production center with about 15,000 )B–
20,000 programmers from 400 software enterprises;
Includes an IT training center, advanced IT Research Institute (Projects 3 &
4 above);
Accommodation for 2,000 people, an entertainment area and a shopping center;
Implementation: 2001: (1,000 programmers);
2005: (5,000 )B– 7,000 programmers, estimated revenue US $100M);
2010: (15,000 )B– 20,000 programmers, estimated revenue US $250M);
Space reserved for around 30 enterprises from provinces, producing in QTSC.
Responsible authorites: Quang Trung Software City Development Company.
IV.3. Ten guidelines.Computerization of state management )B– e-Government:
Beginning in 2002, achieve the same level as Bangkok in 2005;
Computerization of education-distance learning:Beginning in 2002, achieve
the same level as Malaysia in 2005;
Computerization of healthcare administration: achieve the same level as
Singapore in 2005.
Electronic Markets: Jobs, Real Estate, Science and Technology, beginning in
2002.
Electronic Commerce: collaborate on the national project, starting in 2003.
Technology infrastructure management (road,water power, telecommunications)
via GIS: Beginning in 2003.
Internet connections: 10% of individuals; 100% of business, offices, schools
and hospitals by the end of 2005. Internet sevice levels to surpass Bangkok
by 2005.
IT industry revenues: US $250M from software, hardware, etc. in 2005.
Train 20,000 IT professionals including 2,000 for other provinces, 50 Ph.D.
and 200 Masters .
2,000 IT professionals working on contracts overseas.
Establish 300 new sotware enterprises, support 30 provincial sofware
enterprises located in HCMC, three software enterprises with more than 500
programmers.HCMC will invest $30M in IT development for 2001-2005, attract
local and foreign investment of at least $300M to implement the IT programs
and projects.
IV.4. Establish an Information Technology and Telecommunications Committee.
To implement the above target programs and projects, the City must have a
strong, competent state management organization, mobilizing all efforts in
order to develop IT and Telecommunications.
Currently, this task rests with the HCMC Department of Science, Technology
and Environment, specifically the IT Management Office.
The City plans to establish an IT&T Committee, under the HCMC People)B’s
Committee, to be responsible for state-level management and impleamentation
of IT&T for the period 2001-2005.
Please send comments or opinions to:Dr. Nguyen Thien Nhan,86 Le Thanh Ton
St,Dist 1, HCMCVietnamEmail: thiennhan@bdvn.vnd.net
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