Hanoi (VNA) - The Vietnam Internet Association hosted InternetDay 2020 on December 16, marking the 23rd year since Vietnam becamepart of the global internet network.

With the theme “Digital Transformation in Vietnam: From Aspiration toReality”, the event’s discussions centred around Cloud Computing, 5G Services, e-Paymentand Mobile Money, Blockchain, Free and Open-source Software (FOSS), and “Make-in-Vietnam”digital technologies, among others.

In June, the government adopted the National Digital TransformationRoadmap 2025 and vision towards 2030, which focuses on three pillars: e-Government,e-economy, and e-society.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Information and CommunicationsNguyen Huy Dung said 2020 marks the start of national digital transformation.Vietnam must seize the opportunities to promote faster, stronger, and broaderdigital transformation, with governmental bodies, enterprises, and thecommunity together becoming engaged, he said.

Vietnam is among the top 20 countries with the highest number of internetusers, according to Chairman of the Vietnam Internet Association Vu Hoang Lien.Internet Day 2020 aims to help stakeholders translate digital transformationgoals into reality, he added.

The UN’s e-Government Survey 2020, released in July, saw Vietnam score0.66 on the e-Government Development Index (EGDI), higher than the Asian andglobal average. Its EGDI ranking moved up two places from 2018, to 86th among 193 member states last year. It ranks sixth in Southeast Asia.

Vietnam’s digital economy reached 14 billion USD this year, a year-on-yearincrease of 16 percent, making it among the best performers in the region. Itsdigital society index also saw a modest improvement this year, rising 12 pointsfrom 2019, according to a report from GSMA Intelligence.

To accelerate digital transformation, Vietnam needs to expand its internetaccess and look towards universal internet access, which means internet forall, said Nguyen Trong Duong, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Informationand Communications’ Computerisation Agency.

The country should also focus on developing national digitalinfrastructure to meet booming demand for the Internet of Things (IoT), smartdevices, and machine-to-machine communications, growing digital platformecosystems, and expanding the national cyberspace by increasing “Make inVietnam” digital platforms, he noted./.