HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) and Ericsson signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Wednesday in Hà Nội to establish an Internet of Things (IoT) Innovation Hub.

Under the agreement, the IoT Innovation Hub will be located at Hòa Lạc Hi-Tech Park and will foster IoT innovation amongst start-ups, enabling them to develop, test and commercialise IoT applications. This will contribute to the 2018 innovation activities hosted by MoST in Việt Nam.

“In the context of globalisation and the rapid development of new technologies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Việt Nam needs to develop a national strategy to catch up with the trend,” said Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngọc Anh at the signing ceremony. “With more than 140 years of experience in technology development and innovation, Ericsson will be one of Việt Nam’s most trusted partners for this strategy. I firmly believe this co-operation will be effective and benefit both parties.”

Anh said Việt Nam should create favourable conditions for business development by fostering human resources and building a synchronous infrastructure system, especially ICT, digital connections and ensuring network security. The country should also complete its 4G network and study 5G to meet IoT’s requirements.

Denis Brunetti, Head of Ericsson Việt Nam and Myanmar cum co-chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Việt Nam, stated, “At Ericsson, we support the Vietnamese Government’s vision of stimulating inclusive socio-economic development through the application of science and technology innovation. Ericsson fully supports the Government’s ‘National Innovation Network Programme’, which recognises the need for enhancing Việt Nam’s innovation capability to meet challenges and capture the opportunities associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

“Our investment in Việt Nam is about building the infrastructure for the IoT platform,” he said. “But at the same time working with the MoST and entrepreneurs and businesses as well as universities to bring them together in an ecosystem which creates technology application on top of the IoT platform.”

“The digital economy will give Việt Nam opportunities to even better integrate into the world economy while fintech and more innovative investments will come to the country,” he said. “And I believe more technologies will be exported from Việt Nam to other countries. So the next Google, Facebook and Amazon can be a Vietnamese company”.

He added that the process from innovation to industrialisation was a long journey. It would require collaboration.

“That is why the innovation hub is different to many others,” he said. “It not just focuses on technical innovations; it also focuses on collaboration bringing necessary ecosystem parts together.”

The hub is expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2019.

As per the recently released Novermber 2018 edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report, the number of cellular IoT connections is expected to reach 4.1 billion in 2024 – increasing at an annual growth rate of 27 per cent.

The agreement is symbolic in that it marks 50 years of bilateral ties between Sweden and Vietnam as well as Ericsson’s 25th anniversary in Việt Nam.

The signing was also under the chain of innovative activities of national start-up day “Techfest 2018”.

Also at the ceremony, Denis Brunetti was awarded the Medal for Sustainable Business Development in Việt Nam by the chairman of the Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Technology (VCCI) Vũ Tiến Lộc. — VNS