4.0 Summit driving digital transformation

Nguyen Van Anh, CEO of event organiser IEC Group

The Industry 4.0 Summit last year generated strong achievements. What differences will we see at this year’s event on October 2-3?

In the past two years, the International Events and Consulting Group has engaged in hosting diverse events in light of Industry 4.0. They have included Korea ICT Days, the Industry 4.0 Summit, Smart IoT Vietnam, and the Vietnam Security Summit, to name but a few. Of those, the Industry 4.0 Summit has gained a reputation as one of the most prestigious industry events.

This year, the summit agenda features a high-level forum and executive talk, five conference tracks, five roundtable discussions, a networking cocktail and gala dinner, international expositions, and our unique business matching event. We expect to bring together over 4,000 participants, including government agencies, technology innovators, and enterprises across key sectors such as manufacturing, energy and utilities, transportation and logistics, and finance and banking to discuss how to effectively embrace business transformation through adopting digital technologies.

With the theme “Vietnam’s strategy and action plan in proactively embracing the Fourth Industrial Revolution”, the event concentrates on proposing solutions for the major industries of banking, smart cities, manufacturing, energy, and the digital economy.

The Industry 4.0 Summit 2019 will feature over 100 speakers, offering an overall report on the development of Industry 4.0 in Vietnam, updates on the latest trends in terms of technology and potential solutions for 4.0 transformation, and infrastructure construction plans, as well as improvements and resource utilities for our digitalised era.

What’s your assessment of the role of these events to the Party’s directions and the state’s policymaking process for building up an enabling regulatory framework in order to stimulate Vietnam’s engagement in Industry 4.0?

This international event carries the main functions of disseminating the Party’s major directions and guidelines, and action programmes of the government and relevant agencies to spur Vietnam’s engagement in this area; creating a valued platform for exchange and ­receiving input from international and local experts with a view to ensuring effective ­implementation.

The summit also aims to increase exposure of disruptive technologies and achievements associated with Industry 4.0 to Vietnam’s diverse social and economic sectors; and promote business matching in diverse fields of Industry 4.0 between international investors and the local business community, as well as representatives from the country’s 63 cities and provinces.

This year’s summit will provide a platform for businesses to raise issues, and listen to recommendations from leading global experts. The event will also focus on discussion tracks in order to gradually perfect the regulatory system to facilitate Vietnam’s engagement in Industry 4.0 and present technical solutions to drive the digital transformation in Vietnam’s major economic sectors.

The summit will boast the presence of leading global and local technology innovators, and particularly IT businesses. What is the scale of the event?

It will be double the size of last year’s edition, with about 80 booths from leading tech solutions providers locally and globally such as VNPT, Viettel, Qualcomm, Vietcombank, SAP, ABB, Advantech, Samsung, and Ericsson, Siemens, and Bosch.

The exhibition will be divided into different display areas with state-of-the-art technology products and solutions. In particular, typical technologies including 5G equipment, technology for digital infrastructure, Yumi robots, and more promise to bring practical experiences for participants. A unique technology space will provide visitors with the opportunity to directly interact with robots or procure hands-on experience with both augmented reality and virtual reality.

In addition, this year's event will have the appearance of two sections called Korea Smart City and Samsung Smart City presenting compelling models and solutions from leading South Korean tech corporations.

It will also feature the presence of two spaces presenting a complementary smart city model and disruptive 4.0 technologies such as robotics, AI and machine learning, cybersecurity, smart sensors, intelligent transport systems, and the Internet of Things from South Korean tech giants.

The organisers hope that the exhibition will be a bridge to help Vietnamese and international businesses introduce technology solutions, creating more business opportunities and co-operation among businesses.