In 2024, Vietnam's digital economy saw a major uptick in interest in artificial intelligence (AI).

Vietnam can unlock the digital economy across sectors through the effective use of AI-powered solutions.

The growth of Vietnam's esports market is highlighted in the Vietnam Esports White Book 2022-2023, which outlines global trends.

The Hanoitimes -The second international exhibition for renewable and decentralized energy solutions (Enerexpo Vietnam 2012) will take place in Hanoi o­n March 21-23.

Hoang Anh and Anh Tien, twin brothers from the central city of Danang, have won the gold medal at the 2012 International Youth Invention Exhibition (IYIE) in Taiwan for their fingerprint identification system.  

Vietnam and Russia have signed an inter-governmental agreement o­n transporting highly enriched uranium fuel rods used by Đà Lạt nuclear reactor into Russia.

The information technology (IT) infrastructure in Vietnam will be upgraded this year to promote public services and create greater outsourcing opportunities, according to a report prepared by the International Data Corporation (IDC).The report says IT spending in the country would reach 3.25 billion USD, an annual growth of 19.2 percent in comparison with the 8.4 percent increase last year. This would make Vietnam o­ne of the top IT spending nations in the Asia-Pacific region. The Cloud application will be extensively applied as the Vietnamese government and businesses try to cut expenditures, the report says. IDC also believes that this year, big telecommunication corporations will buy up smaller o­nes because of market saturation, and fierce competition will take place among big players like VinaPhone, MobiFone and Viettel. The report also predicts stronger growth of smartphones. By the middle of last year, smartphones had taken 9 percent of total market share, with 400,000 units, but by the end of this year, the figure might reach 2.7 million. The growth of smartphones would help service providers improve their income because 80 percent of their turnover comes from voice services, which is decreasing, the report says. Value added services will be a necessary solution to keep customers, it adds. Another significant prediction is a 92 percent growth in tablet consumption, creating more difficulties for PC distribution. The security authentication market is expected to recover with growth of 28 percent despite a tough year in 2011, far from the 43 percent growth seen in 2010. The market will be helped by strong development of e-payment as Vietnam reaches 26 million Internet users towards the end of this year. The strong development of web-based social networks will also boost electronic trade, the report says.

A website o­n social security has been launched today by the Vietnam Youth Federation with the aim of connecting benefactors with poor and disabled people.

Vietnam is calling for foreign direct investment (FDI) into high technologies. However, it would be an impossible mission, if Vietnam does not change its current policies.

A key piece of legislation is proving a major roadblock for high-tech investors in Vietnam.

Information technology and e-commerce are indispensible aspects of business strategy and essential to helping enterprises reorient themselves towards profitability and growth, the director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's IT and e-commerce department Tran Huu Linh has said.Five years of implementation of the master plan to promote e-commerce during 2006-10 had demonstrated the key role it played in enhancing competitiveness, Linh said."Up-to-date e-commerce has also become popular with individuals, particularly young people," he said.Immediately after the Prime Minister's decision o­n developing e-commerce during 2011-15 was issued in 2010, Linh's department collaborated with local industry and trade departments, universities, service providers and the business community to implement the given objectives, with 57 cities and provinces publishing local e-commerce development plans through 2015."This suggests a great interest in e-commerce, and the benefits that e-commerce offers for rural and remote areas become clearer," Linh said.Over 60 training courses o­n e-commerce were held in nearly 40 locations around the country last year, demonstrating the allure of e-commerce to the business community, he added. "E-Commerce not o­nly creates linkages within a company; it also enables the company to enjoy greater value."As IT capacity keeps improving, businesses without a strong systems in place would face difficulties, Linh suggested. Therefore, he said his department was focused o­n drafting a new decree guiding e-commerce operations. It would also continue to popularise e-commerce in the media and organise training and support programmes for businesses.Web portals serving export promotion would also be targeted for improvement, he said.

The Vietnamese social network, www.go.vn reports that it now has more than 12 million members. This is an important period for the network because of the increasing competition from domestic and foreign social networks. Since launched, the network has developed strongly and rapidly, according to Phan Anh Tuan, the Network Director. In March 2011, the network could boast only 3 million members however five months later it increased its membership to 5 million. A big success story was the Internet Olympic English (IOE) contest, an offshoot of www.go.vn , which attracted almost 5 million pupils and students from 33,177 schools and colleges across the country. This convinced Vietnamese network developers to create a network that would be able to become a large social network for education, entertainment and communication in the country. With its main emphasis on television and telecommunications, the network benefits Vietnamese people in many ways and allows them to access it from TVs, PCs and mobile phones.

E-commerce and information technology have become essential tools for enterprises, especially in the current process of restructuring the economy, according to an official from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The Ministry of Information and Communications' Department of Telecommunications has officially granted 1 million new mobilephone numbers to mobile network provider Beeline.Specifically, the 1 million new numbers are in the range 0994 (starting from the fourth digit). Beeline will use this block to provide mobile communication services o­n a national scale.Previously, Global Mobile Telecom Joint Stock Company, the owner of Beeline network, sent a letter to the ministry to ask for an additional 1 million new numbers to meet its network development.

Issuance of new high-security driver's licences with digitised personal information will begin nationwide next month, according to the Ministry of Transport.The project will be piloted in northern Bac Ninh Province and central Da Nang City beginning o­n Feb. 20.Deputy minister of transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong said the change is designed to synchronise the issuance of driving licenses, prevent counterfeit documents and improve the management of traffic violators nationwide.He said the new license will be printed in Vietnamese and English and will be valid in all members countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion Agreement o­n Facilitation of Cross-Border Transport of Goods and People.The licenses will include a profile photo, personal information including full name, birthday and address, expiry date and a code system to differentiate and digitised information and features about individual drivers.Deputy general director of the Vietnam Road Administration Nguyen Van Quyen said based o­n this digitised system in the country's network, all departments of transport and police will be able to verify drivers' personal information when re-issuing driving licenses or conducting criminal investigations."This new driving license also helps police officers to look up a driver's history of traffic violations."Statistics of the Ministry of Public Security's Traffic Police Department show that more than 1,500 forged driving licenses were confiscated last year, down from 4,300 in 2010, mainly in the northern provinces of Bac Ninh, Vinh Phuc, Hoa Binh, Lang Son and central Nghe An.Deputy general director Quyen said this nationwide system will help transport companies to check and manage their drivers.Nguyen Van Hop, director of Hop Hoa Transport Company said it is very difficult for transport companies to verify the personal information of drivers printed o­n the current driving license during the recruiting process because they can not always tell if a license is legitimate."I usually recruit my drivers based o­n my experience and a driving test. But sometimes my instincts have been wrong."I hope that with this change, I can easily recruit well-qualified drivers to ensure the safety of my passengers."Nguyen Manh Hung, head of the Vietnam Transport Association, said changing the form of driving licenses is necessary at this time because the current format is not water or heat resistant, is not valid in other countries and is easily faked.Quyen said current driving licenses are still valid and do not need to be renewed until their expiry dates. New licenses will be issued in the place of damaged documents or those that have expired.The cost of a new license will be 150,000 VND (7.1 USD).He said the administration is focused o­n training its staff to get used to the new issuance technology to ensure the whole network would run smoothly.

Hoi An will become the first city in Vietnam and Southeast Asia to provide free provide Wifi over the entire area.

Vietnam should cooperate more with the US in science and technology to strengthen the country’s economy, an US scientist has said. US President Barack Obama’s science envoy Dr. Rita Colwell made the suggestion at a workshop held at the University of Technical Education in Ho Chi Minh City o­n Feb. 8, to discuss joint plans between Vietnam and the US in both fields. Colwell said the US is willing to support Vietnam through its own National Science Foundation if Vietnamese scientists take part in joint scientific and technological projects with the US. She also stressed that it is necessary to help Vietnamese students develop their ideas as well as encourage their creativity. When addressing the workshop, the US Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, Le Thanh An, said that Vietnam’s universities should aim to be pioneers in the development of their country’s economy, adding that Vietnam needs more support to help meet the demands of its fast growing economy.

Always heading towards the homeland, in recent years, more and more overseas Vietnamese intellectuals and scientists want to return to Vietnam to contribute their efforts to the development of the country.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a science and technology programme for the building of new rural areas for the 2011-2015 period with an expected expense of VND 1.5 trillion.

Famous US star Justin Bieber appeared at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to introduce two robots produced by Vietnam Tosy, a manufacturer of toy robots.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh has approves a six-month extension of a pilot e-customs plan that was to be completed at the end of last year.The pilot e-customs was launched in 2005 in the northern port city of Hai Phong and HCM City, under the Government’s Decision 149 and so far, has been applied in 90 customs branches across 20 cities and provinces nation wide, including Hanoi, Da Nang, Dong Nai and Binh Duong.According to the Finance Ministry, until last October, the number of e-customs offices accounted for nearly 80 percent of total customs offices. Nearly 47,000 enterprises, about 86 percent, used e-customs services already.An accumulative 2.5 million customs declarations were computerised, helping with an import-export volume worth nearly 200 million USD.Beside the proven effectiveness of e-customs during its pilot period, the ministry said-e-customs were mostly applicable for customs clearance while receving and processing information have yet to work sufficiently, urging more time to practice.

Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) has launched a website providing listeners with the news and information in Vietnamese and 11 foreign languages.

mRobo, the latest product of Vietnam’s high-tech toy manufacturer, Tosy Robotics JSC (TOSY) made its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2012, which took place in Las Vegas, US from Jan. 10-13. With an introduction by singer Justin Bieber, mRobo impressed spectators with its innovative and interactive features. The robot gives music and dance lovers the ability to enjoy their passions in a whole new way. Not o­nly do they have a great new way to listen to their favorite songs but they also have a new partner to dance to their favourite music with, said Ho Vinh Hoang, TOSY's founder and CEO Participating in CES for the first time, TOSY becomes the first company of Vietnam to join the international high-tech toy market. Tosy Robotics JSC trademark has registered its copyright in more than 40 countries. o­ne of its innovative products, Tosy AFO was voted as a prominent technological product in 2011 by the US “The Street” magazine.