Phan Thanh Sơn of FPT Information System giving a speech during a forum on digital transformation in HCM City on August 17. — VNS Photo Việt Dũng

HCM CITY — Vietnamese businesses need to consider digital transformation soon in order to not be left behind in the ongoing industrial revolution, Phan Thanh Sơn, chief business development officer of FPT Information System, told Việt Nam News.

On the sidelines of a forum on August 17, he said: “Digital transformation is no longer a matter of should or should not, but a must; businesses that do not partake in this may not survive in a new digital economy.

“Businesses have to adopt it; it is only a matter of when and how quickly.”

The old economy was slowly becoming more and more “inappropriate,” while new economy models such as Uber and Grab were being created in place of old models.

Adopting digital transformation helped businesses improve the experience of customers, who were demanding more and more from them.

Workers of the future would also come from a digital age, with different mindsets and expectations, and businesses had to adapt so that they would have room to be innovative and contribute.

Businesses could also create or partake in new business models and operate more efficiently.   

Việt Nam adopted new technologies relatively quicker than other countries, especially thanks to its youths and its telecommunication infrastructure which had seen great improvements.

Many sectors such as agriculture were adopting digital technologies and improving productivity.

But some were doing it at a slow rate, still not fully aware of the danger of being left behind as a result.

Neither were they fully aware of the opportunities it brought.

There had not been enough investment in creating a workforce that could support the digital transformation; it had only starting recently.

Many universities lacked streams such as AI and data science.

Authorities were aware of the importance of digital transformation and making efforts to raise awareness of this and programmes to push for it.

Businesses were now more aware of digital transformation, and while some remained sceptical, others were seeing the real challenges and beginning to take actions.

Business leaders were looking into it.

Each business should “think big, do smart and scale fast” when it came to actions and digital transformation programmes. — VNS