Dr Dang Trong Hop, Dean of the IT Faculty in Hanoi University of Industry, shared his insight that the demand for digital technology personnel in Vietnam is currently experiencing a considerable surge, particularly in domains such as artificial intelligence, big data, and automation systems.
However, he cautioned that by 2025, Vietnam will have faced a deficit of approximately 200,000 digital technology professionals, with this figure potentially escalating to 220,000 by 2026 in the absence of substantial improvements in training methodologies.
Dr. Hop explained that one of the most significant contemporary challenges is the asynchronous relationship between educational curricula and the tangible requirements of enterprises. Numerous organizations find themselves compelled to retrain newly hired employees, as acquired skills prove incongruent with practical workplace demands, especially within the context of aggressive digital transformation.
He additionally noted that while Vietnamese human resources demonstrate considerable prowess in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines, workforce training in specialized domains such as semiconductors, Internet of Things (IoT), and automation remains a formidable challenge, necessitating robust investment in infrastructure and technological capabilities in order for enterprises to maintain their competitive position in the international marketplace.
To address the digital technology personnel shortage, experts in the discussion recommended that enterprises proactively collaborate with educational institutions to ensure program quality and practical applicability, enabling students to instantaneously apply theoretical knowledge in real-world contexts.
Concurrently, organizations must actively invest in internal training initiatives and encourage technological innovation within production processes, thereby cultivating an environment conducive to digital skill development.
Statistics from the Industry and Trade Ministry reveal that in 2023, international organizations acknowledged Vietnam as the fastest-growing digital economy in Southeast Asia, with aggregate commodity value reaching US$30 billion and projections indicating near $45 billion by 2025.
Digital transformation has contributed to an 8.6-percent increase in industrial production value during the first ten months of 2024 compared to that time last year, with digital industry revenue estimated at approximately $118 billion, representing a 17.8-percent year-on-year increment.
Leading enterprises like EVN have fully digitized their operations, providing 100 percent of level-4 electricity services online and processing 99.54 percent of transactions electronically. In the textile industry, a significant portion of manufacturers are ready to adopt advanced technologies like IoT, cloud computing, blockchain, and data management platforms.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade is currently developing and presenting to the Prime Minister a support program for industrial manufacturers to apply Industry 4.0 technologies through digital transformation, aiming to develop intelligent production capabilities by 2030.
The digital transformation process has been evaluated as fundamentally altering the industrial landscape, progressively reducing the proportion of extractive industries while considerably increasing manufacturing sector proportions.
Nevertheless, the Ministry of Industry and Trade assesses that digital transformation readiness among industrial enterprises remains relatively low, with transformation primarily concentrated among larger-scale organizations.
