The event is co-held by the HCMC Department of Science & Technology and the Ho Chi Minh Youth Union of HCMC. The participation of the union as a member of the organization board allowed more activities aiming at pupils and students. Particularly, such sub-events as the community activity to link national students, themed ‘Innovative Startup in the Digital Era’, the conference ‘Operation Model of an Innovative Startup Club for Students in Universities’, the programs ‘Knowledge Bus’ and ‘Robot Playground’, the contests ‘Creative Drawing’ and ‘Creative Photographing’ attracted a large quantity of students.
Noticeably, the annual global contest MakeX Robotics Competition 2019 welcomed over 350 teams from all over the world. This contest encouraged the integrated educational method for scientific subjects, aiming at 8-14 year-olds. They had to employ their expertise in STEAM subjects (Science-Technology-Engineering-Arts-Mathematics) to solve practical issues in real life.
WHISE 2019 had a special exhibition for technological products by innovative startups in the country and other nations in the world like Singapore, Thailand, Sweden, Ireland, the Republic of Korea. Visitors had a chance to experience the latest technologies in the fields of information technology, digital transformation, e-commerce, hi-tech agriculture, 3D printing technique, and biotechnology. Significantly, the field of digital transformation accounted for 45 percent of the total registration this time.
WHISE 2019 was expected to offer valuable opportunities for the establishment of connections between domestic startups and their international counterparts.
“WHISE 2019 gathers the most successful startup models in Vietnam to first introduce to the community and then to more effectively link possible resources in the society. It is also the time to honor all individuals and organizations that have positive contribution to startup activities, hopefully boosting these tasks in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in the near future. WHISE 2019 is the municipal authorities’ commitment to promote the startup spirit in the community, turning HCMC into the center of innovation and creativity of not only the country but also the region”, said Director of the HCMC Department of Science & Technology Nguyen Viet Dung.
Standing at the third position in ASEAN as to the number of startup entrepreneurs and having a critical role in the key economic region development strategy, HCMC needs to maintain its achievements and to aim at a sustainable growth in the direction of knowledge economy as well as green development based on innovation. This year, the city has introduced a lot of programs and action plans to fulfill the project of transforming into a smart city. Innovative startup activities, therefore, play an important role in creating new values.
As commented by Director Nguyen Viet Dung, the city’s support activities for startups lately has greatly contributed to its capacity improvement and the strong link among partners in the innovative startup ecosystem of HCMC. This, in turn, positively boosts the startup spirit in the community and helpfully identifies effective startup models for further development.
