The Fourth Industrial Revolution: More opportunities open to Vietnamese

This is the remark of Mr. Vu Hoang Lien, Chairman of the Internet Society Vietnam at an interview with Customs News on the opportunities and challenges in the context of the industrial race in the era of digital technology.

First of all, could you please tell us about the fourth industrial revolution?

As we know, the first industrial revolution is the use of water and steam energy to mechanize production. The second industrial revolution is the use of electric energy and the machinery manufacturing industry. The third industrial revolution is a breakthrough with the use of electronic and information technology to automate production. The fourth industrial revolution is still a new concept, it is expected to create a wide range of technology and product which are the connections between physical, digital and biological factors; and create a link between the real and virtual world via smart technology.

Therefore, it can be said that, if the fourth revolution is developed deeply, every industry and every system of production, management, governance in the world will be changed. For example, previously, robots depend on people to operate, but when robots can self-control in certain conditions and interact with people, it will belong to the fourth industrial revolution.

In fact, the core of the fourth industrial revolution is creating virtual systems which are set up from the information environment, support the connection and interaction between human, machine and the real world via all 5 senses. The most typical result of the link between the real and virtual worlds is the birth of IoT (Internet of Things - Internet connects everything). The example is the game Pokemon Go developed recently, the world in the game is a virtual world, but there are some interactions with humans, if interactions are developed to become more intelligent and stronger, such as being able to understand human emotions, this game will have a greater impact on the society.

For businesses, what are the impacts and changes that the fourth industrial revolution would create, sir?

Businesses will have two opportunities relating to the fourth industrial revolution. The first one is producing solution devices following the trend of the fourth industry. The second one is applying products and solutions of the fourth industry for their business intentions.

For manufacturing businesses, in the current conditions, the companies in the fields of information technology, electronics and software have greater opportunities in the production of software and invention of new devices. The companies in the fields of electrical mechanical equipment and precision mechanical equipment manufacturing also have opportunities to produce sensors or controllers to support interaction between the real and virtual world.

However, the real growth opportunities are in the hands of the application businesses. For example, if a business contributing driving instruction service use visual lessons, it will be very expensive. But later on, they just need the kit to practice in a virtual world, which is extremely important and useful for teaching flying an airplane or a spaceship, etc. Or with the new technologies, businesses will have the opportunity to produce unmanned vehicles or products of 3D printing technology, etc.

What is your assesment on the socio – economic environment of Vietnam if we want to enter the fourth industrial revolution?

In terms of the proportion of the industry, the sad thing is that Vietnam still stands in the second industrial phase. However, this does not mean we do not have any industrial electronics or information technology products, these products are still weak and not enough to be ranked. Therefore, as I said, the fourth industrial revolution will make an overall change in the world, so if we want to apply those changes, the reform of our country's economy is granted. Because once the economy has entered the fourth generation, there are many things to change.

The first is creating the motivation to help businesses participate in the fourth economy, this motivation is mostly the changes in the policy environment to help businesses have the confidence and the will to involve. The second is feasible conditions in finance, technology, environment, infrastructure, invention, creativity, etc.

Besides these conditions, the change of perception of society is also important. Because if people do not get a good education and have enough knowledge, the intelligence of technology can become harmful tools, or self-harm itself. If the society is not civilized, the producers may still inadvertently produce things that have a negative impact, even without malicious intent. So recently, the appearance of IoT needs a lot of education and socio-cultural changes, if IoT is not controlled by the regulatory and ethical environment, it will be very dangerous. Thus, advances in science and technology without education from the beginning would be hard to develop properly and efficiently.

Despite many difficulties, what are the opportunities to Vietnam businesses from the fourth industrial revolution, sir?

We can enter the third industrial revolution, because electronics, technology and online services are great opportunities with high practicability of Vietnamese. In fact, Vietnam has many big technology companies who have reached out to the world, so if we know how to seize the opportunity, we will take the leap and catch up with the world. It needs a "support hand" of the State to create the mechanism for the development. The second one is the role of the technology companies, and then the role of investors and financial companies.

Specifically, the new industry requires the younger generation and start-up businesses. Because developing businesses in this form do not require the scale, not limited by age or space, not restricted by social relations, the position or even financial viability. Therefore, in the future, the participation of the relevant authorities is needed for further communication, provide information, transform perceptions of the younger generation, help this generation see the opportunities and become enough confident to accomplish.

Thank you, sir!