Nguyễn Văn Thụ, President of the Việt Nam Association of Mechanics. — Photo dantri.com.vn

HÀ NỘI – Việt Nam needs to invest in human resources to take advantage of and keep updated about the fourth industrial revolution or industry 4.0, Nguyễn Văn Thụ, President of the Việt Nam Association of Mechanics said.

The next step, according to him, is technological reform and co-operation among enterprises to avoid investment overlap.

According to experts, enterprises need labourers with professional skills, especially those developing and designing products. This will create ressure and opportunities for Vietnamese training institutes.

One example of co-operation between enterprises and training institutes is the partnership between the Vietbay company, specialisng in software distribution and information and technology professional services, Siemens Industry product lifecycle management and three universities - Military Technical Academy of Việt Nam, School of Mechanical Engineering under Hà Nội’s University of Science and Technology and University of Transport Technology.

Võ Hồng Kỳ, director of Siemens Industry product lifecycle management Việt Nam said that the collaboration aims to enhance competency and quality of graduates and offer them post-graduate job opportunities and to improve lecturers’ abilities. The co-operation is expected to provide high-quality human resources for the engineering sector.

Mai Duy Quang, vice president of Việt Nam Software Association said it is impossible for enterprises to put into operation the internet of things, big data and artificial intelligence in the near future. However, enterprises can increase productivity by improving staff quality and management.

Vietnamese human resources have ten to twenty years of experience in information technology application and outsourcing; therefore, the country will be able to keep updated on state-of-the-art technology easily.

However, the Government must take actions to create conditions for companies to design initiatives rather than paying lip service to the problem, he said.

Traditional enterprises must improve production capacity by not only depending on low-cost labour but also creative hi-tech workers, he said.

Isara Burintramart, executive director of Reed Tradex, ASEAN’s leading exhibition organizer, said that Việt Nam’s human resources are ready to learn and step into Industry 4.0. The best way to approach it is to map out strategies and pilot projects.

Industry 4.0 refers to the trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. It includes cyber-physical systems, the internet of things and cloud computing.— VNS