Vietnam’s increasing importance for Japan’s Information Technology sector

The Vietnam IT Day is an annual conference held for the eighth time this year, with the aim to connect IT companies from the two countries and to establish new partnerships. The conference is a joint venture by the Vietnam Software And IT Services Association (VINASA), the Vietnam Japan Corporation (VJC), as well as the Japan Information Service Industry Association (JISA) and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).

The Japan/Vietnam Trade Relationship

• Japan and Vietnam have been partners for more than 45 years
• Japan’s research & development (R&D) effort is focused on new technologies to support the “Society 5.0” vision, for example Big Data, Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality (VR/AR), Robotics, Internet-of-Things (IoT), Blockchain, etc.
• However, Japan is facing a lack of IT professionals. According to JETRO, there is already a projected lack of 170.000 software engineers during the 2020 fiscal year, a number that will increase 4–5 times by 2030
• Vietnam is the second-largest partner of Japan when it comes to software development, services and new technologies; only behind China

Vietnam IT Day

The Vietnam IT Day offered two tracks, presentations and one-on-one business matching. Yoshihiko Murowaki, representing the Information Technology Promotion Agency (IPA), gave the keynote address. IPA is an organization established to protect and nurture the IT society and aim to build “a reliable IT society” in Japan. In 2004, IPA became an Incorporated Administrative Agency recognized by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

Murowaki-san pointed out three key elements of the existing IT systems in Japan.

• First, the need for digital transformation. He proposed that robust Systems of Engagement (SoE) and Systems of Record (SoR) are both needed, with an appropriate balance between them, and a new model for the workflow. To maximize work productivity, product managers, designers and software engineers need to collaborate and directly communicate with each other, instead of following a waterfall model.
• Second, challenges with the existing IT system in Japan. These include four main challenges: 80% of IT budgets is spent on the maintenance and operation of the existing IT system; the migration to the cloud needs to be planned in an intelligent way, and will lead to a different system architecture; shortage of IT engineers and professionals; and lastly, the current IT system have turned into a black box due to the loss of staff and associated knowledge over time.
• Third, technical issues towards rebuilding IT system. The biggest hurdle is to find the right answer for how a plan should be established and managed.

The keynote address was followed by three seminars, covering digital transformation, business systems, and human resources development. In each seminar, IT companies from the two countries introduced their digital solutions.

Digital Transformation ( AI | IoT | Big Data | RPA)

Viet-Hai Communications Inc: a telecoms engineering service company, which provides network solutions for business, including network planning, new services, CO2 emissions reduction, profit-maximizing, change management and quality management.

VNEXT SOFTWARE: a consulting and software engineering company for the Japanese market, which provides IT services, including Lab development, web system development, mobile app development and AI R&D.

GMO-Z.com RUNSYSTEM JSC: a software development company, which provides IT solutions and IT services for Vietnam and Japan, including domain name, web hosting, email server, Wordpress hosting, cloud solution, SSL certificate.

Business Systems ( Legacy | Web | Digitalization)

DEHA Software: an IT company, which provides services for Japan and Vietnam, including web development, mobile app development, product maintenance, offshore consulting.

GIANTY INC: an IT company working in web systems, gaming applications, tools and EC systems, which provides offshore services and outsourcing in software development.

Ominext: an IT company, which offers consulting and IT solutions in various industrial sectors, including healthcare, education, recruitment, finance, food & energy. Their services include web app development, smartphone app development and maintenance.

Human Resources Development

LUVINA Company: a software development company, which provide offshore services for Japanese clients. Their services include offshore contract development and offshore lab development.

VINASA Academy: Vinasa is a local partner with Sapporo City and NPO Sapporo IT Front to execute an educational project called “ Educational Environment Reinforcement Project for IT engineers in Hanoi, Vietnam as a project of JICA in Hanoi and Sapporo.

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