What is the difference between information technology (IT) and digital technology? Digital technology is the next development of IT with the emergence of some breakthrough technologies of the Industrial Revolution 4.0. IT refers to separate software, computers, automates what we are doing manually such as word processing software, staff and accounting management software. Digital technology refers to new technologies of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, blockchain and Internet of things. These technologies are revolutionary because they replace human intelligence, IT replaces manual labor. It is also revolutionary in creating a new resource called data. It is also revolutionary because it brings everything into cyberspace, and when entering cyberspace, everything becomes lively as human.
What is the difference between IT application and digital transformation? Digital transformation is the next development of IT applications. IT application is to use computers and software to make reports to send to superiors. Digital transformation means that no report is made anymore. Data at all levels are available in the system, if you want to get information you can access and analyze. IT application is to use Power Point software to make lessons more vividly, not using chalk. Digital transformation means that the teachers do not teach anymore. Teachers become teaching assistants. Students will listen to the best teacher via video, teachers in the class will manage the classroom and explain if necessary. Therefore, students nationwide always learn from the best.
In progress of applying IT, how is digital transformation implemented? In majority, digital technology is more efficient than IT, the digital transformation approach is more efficient than the IT application approach. For example, if using computers and software, it is necessary to deploy 11,000 systems for 11,000 communes, if using cloud computing, all 11,000 communes will share the same system. If using separate software, it is expensive, deploying in order is very slow and it takes a lot of effort to train. If using the platform of digital transformation, deploying in communes at the same time will be very fast, cheap and the platform is easy to use and requires no training. Everyone still uses Zalo, Facebook well without guidance or training, the more you use it, the better you are.
Why is it said that Industrial Revolution 4.0, digital transformation are institutional revolutions rather than technological revolutions? A new industrial revolution has two main contents: what technology is and what is transformed. The more we use 4.0 technology, especially digital technology, the more users we have, the cheaper it is, the price per capita reaches to 0. Digital technology will process data, the more data it is, it will be smart, users decide the intelligence of the system, not the original technology. That means the user plays a more important role than the creator of the original technology. The original technology is not as important and decisive as it was in the industrial revolutions no. 1, 2, 3. But the Industrial Revolution 4.0 requires a change in the operating model and institutions. For example, do you dare to turn teachers into teaching assistants? Do you dare to abandon the system that the lower-level report to the higher-level? Do you dare to allow digital bank with no attender, college with no teacher? Therefore, digital transformation is the story of dare or not? And as a result, it depends on one person who is the leader. If the leader does not have political determination, digital transformation will not happen. With the new ones without law requirement, the collective of party committee and leaders decide to implement pilot first, in a limited space and time.
When doing digital transformation, you have questions what to do first, what to do later, what will be effective, what is the value of t and who will do it well? These questions can be difficult for the province. But they are not difficult for the Ministry of Information and Communication. Therefore, the province should ask for consultancy from the Ministry.
There is an approach to choose what to do first as below: what is the most difficulty or called the biggest pain, what is a long-standing problem also known as the millennium problem or the hottest problem, the most frustrated problem should be posed to see if digital technology can solve it or not. Industrial Revolution 4.0, digital transformation has breakthrough solutions to many difficult problems, millennium problems. For example, poverty reduction, rural and urban gaps, universal high-quality services to remote areas, etc.
How much is suitable for digital transformation? The average rate that countries spend on IT application, digital transformation is 1% of their annual budget. The high level is over 2%. There is no spend of over 4%. Average spend in Vietnam is currently 0.3%. Therefore, the province should spend about 1% of the annual budget. If you want to speed up digital transformation, especially in these early years, you need to do platforms right away, you can spend 2%.
How to know whether to spend on digital transformation effectively or not? When doing the digital transformation, it is necessary to calculate the value that digital transformation bring such as labor and working hours savings, regular cost savings and the new value digital transformation bring. Long-term intangible values still have to be quantified. If the created value is greater than the cost of the digital transformation, it is the efficiency. Digital transformation is not an incremental cost, but an added value. To avoid accidents that happened in the past with IT, the province always has to consider spending on digital transformation as an investment project, always calculating revenues and expenditures. An investment project must be positive for investment and employment.
During the digital transformation period, there is a successful formula: what we find difficult, if we do it for a long time but we can't, publicize our problems to the society to do. Someone can solve it.
Will digital transformation create unemployment? People worried about job loss when a new industrial revolution appeared. But all three previous industrial revolutions did not create unemployment and the unemployment rate tended to decrease. Unemployment rose mainly due to economic recession. The new industrial revolutions have taken some jobs away but created many new jobs.
The problem is to retrain workers. But digital transformation can positively support retraining, as well as creating tools and foundations for new jobs being easier to be learned and to be done. Digital transformation spawn digital universities and distance learning platforms that make retraining easier, learning, practicing and testing at any time through our inseparable cell phone, iPad. For example, labeling is a new job in order to teach robots to learn face recognition. There are billions of photos given to workers to distinguish and label the men or the women, the old or the young, the fat or the thin, the city or rural people, etc. This job can still be done in the countryside via internet and can still be trained through the instructions on the internet. People in the countryside do not have to go to cities to work as assembly workers and garment workers but still work as labeling workers in the countryside, they only need a phone, an iPad or a PC and an internet connection. This is an example of a new job.
Where are experts in digital technology for digital transformation? This question is true for IT. Because IT systems must be deployed and operated, users must be trained. These things have to be done in each unit, commune, district, province, so there is a lack of IT staff. With digital technology, there are no such problems. All are on cloud computing, communes and districts only need to register to use, there is no IT system in each commune or district anymore. One system is shared to all. Therefore, it is so easy to use that no training is required. Processes and ways have been put on the digital platform, users don't need to remember, do not need to learn.
For new problems, provincial leaders only need to set out a problem, set a target to be achieved, and quantify the value to be created to know the maximum possible cost. Leaders must also create institutions to allow new thing to be operated. Leaders don't need to be too concerned how to do. Let the business do it. When leaders are attracted in discussing how to do things, especially how to do something without expertise such as digital transformation, they will not be able to decide whether to do or not and as a result, many things will be suspended.
Another very effective approach is to let people and businesses propose the values they can create for the province. The province considers if the value created for the province is greater than the cost, let them do. This is the way to bring all-people to participate in the innovation of the province. All people participate in the development of the province. The ideas for province development should not be considered as the monopoly of public officials. Breakthroughs and unexpected great values often come from the creativity of the people's intelligence.
What does people-centered mean? IT application and digital transformation have gone through different stages of development. Initially, the technology enterprise has solutions and applications to offer the government, the government consider buying and applying. This is the stage where technologists and businesses are the leader. Next, the government understands more technology, believes in technology more and starts to pose the government's problems to technology enterprises for them to solve with technology. The leader is the government. The third step is people-centered, the problems which are posed by the government is to listen from the people, derive from the needs of the people and bring value to the people. The government bring people into the center. The fourth step is the participation of 4 parties from the beginning, they are people, authorities, experts and businesses. These four parties will discuss what and how to address the needs of people, businesses and the government. Therefore, all for sustainable development of the province is the right approach, everything has always been discussed by all 4 parties from the beginning.
Is digital transformation unsafe? Any living environment is not safe. That is the nature of life. We have been living in the real world for tens of thousands of years; institutions, laws, the state apparatus have been finished for thousands of years but there are still risks, still absolutely insecure; theft, killing still occur. Digital transformation creates a new living space, called cyberspace. Life has been entering cyberspace faster than the legal system and law enforcement apparatus and so the risks are not little. Luckily, the whole world is facing these challenges, countries are improving the legal system on cyberspace. We can learn. For example, in the protection of personal data, the EU has enacted laws and is regarded as the standard by many countries; big social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Google have also been regulated by management countries via the laws on digital markets and services. In Vietnam, we are also learning to perfect institutions and apparatus in cyberspace.
But we will always have to deal with cyber threats. Beside the rules, each of us still has to be equipped with the digital skills to live safely in cyberspace. Network security incidents and accidents will still happen, but it is also a way to make cybersecurity more and more secure. Since the risk cannot be zero, the approach will be risk management, risk minimization, when risks occur, recovery ability is the most important.
Vietnam will have to prosper in cyberspace and therefore, Vietnam must become a cyber-security power to protect its prosperity in cyberspace. The cybersecurity power is the same as the real-world military power.
Do we use the catch-up, progressive, then surpassing approach in digital transformation? If we keep following the new one, we will forever be the follower, never changing the national ranking. Only being the lead of the new will have the opportunity to become a developed country.
Digital transformation is new for Vietnam as well as other countries. There is also not much experience to learn from. Developed countries are often not enthusiastic about the new because they are good with what they have. Only someone who is in poverty and in difficulty can be enthusiastic about the new. For example, a poor African country, Kenya, used mobile money application 12 years ago, but it was not until 2020 that the US did. In Vietnam, we do not need to wait for anyone, if we find it effective, let's use, be quick to new things to solve our problems and thus become the leader. Because of being at the forefront, new technology will move to Vietnam, the world technology manpower will move to Vietnam. Because these resources are always moving to the place where there is a market. Because of being at the forefront of the new, we create the market for the new. The market is always a magnet. The market is also the place where technology is created and perfected. Having a market means having technology, developing a technology, not as before, if there is technology, there is a market. In addition, by being at the forefront, we become the best and the world will have to come to Vietnam to learn. Vietnam becomes the center of the world by applying the new, using the new to solve its problems, using the new for breakthrough development.
Source: https://mic.gov.vn/
Reported by Phuong Chi - Translated by Nguyen Trang