The starting round of the 2021 ASEAN Student Contest on Information Security (ASCIS) will be held virtually on October 9, the Vietnam Information Security Association (VNISA) said on August 26.

The association said about 180 teams from universities and colleges in Vietnam and ASEAN member states participated in the event.

The ASCIS is held with a view to enhancing ASEAN students’ knowledge of information security while promoting study, research, experience sharing, and the update of advanced technologies in the field of cybersecurity.

Vietnamese teams won last year’s ASEAN Student Contest on Information Security at the final round held on November 28, 2020. Photo: qdnd.vn

It is an important activity of the annual event “Vietnam Information Security Day” organized by the VNISA under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) and the Authority of Information Security under the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) of Vietnam.

The contest consists of the starting, preliminary, and final rounds. The number of teams participating in the starting round is not limited. The selection of teams for the preliminary round will base on the result of the starting one.

The preliminary round is expected to take place on October 16 and the final one on November 13 with the presence of the 10 best Vietnamese teams in the preliminary round and about eight teams with the highest scores from ASEAN countries (one team from each country).

This year’s edition is the 14th organized for Vietnamese students and the third time its eligibility has been expanded to include students from the ASEAN region.

It aims to discover talents in the field of information security and promote the training of highly qualified human resources in this field. It creates a playground to enhance the exchange of knowledge among students from universities and technical institutes in ASEAN countries.

In an interview with The Hanoi Times, VNISA Chairman Nguyen Thanh Hung said that since information security plays a special role in developing countries like Vietnam, the contest helps to step up the training of high-quality information security human resources in the country and many other ASEAN nations.

“Vietnam sets many targets in the sector, including mastering information security products and services, and improving Vietnam’s position in international rankings in the field, among others,” Hung said.

Therefore, it is of utmost importance for the country to develop human resources to meet the requirements of the digital revolution, he stressed.