Enterprises need to change their mindset to move into the digital world ahead of the fourth industrial revolution, a leading government minister said this week.

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Minh Hong was speaking at a conference organised by the Viet Nam Digital Communications Association on Monday.

Nguyen Thanh Phuc, director of the Authority of Information Technology Application, pointed out that digital transformation relied on three main aspects: people, enterprises and the State.

In terms of people it could be recognised that industries were demanding suitable human resources and must pay attention to training, he said.

"Businesses need to switch from doing traditional businesses to doing businesses on digital platforms with products and services integrated with technology, mainly using robots and artificial intelligence," he said.

But he said the most important aspect was government, which is the foundation while data was the core, said the director.

The director also emphasised sectors which needed including education, health, agriculture, environment, tourism, banking and smart cities.

Phuc also introduced many solutions to implement digital conversion such as increasing communications; building digital infrastructure; ensuring information security in digital conversion and preparing for digital human resources and legal environment.

The deputy director of the Ha Noi Information and Communications Department, Nguyen Xuan Quang, stressed the capital city was trying to overcome difficulties and challenges in converting digital infrastructure, databases and technology.

The city also set goals to continue building e-government; completing the information infrastructure and core database and connecting the national database by 2020.

The city had also developed a strategy and a plan for building smart cities by 2025, Quang said.

In addition, the city was developing a smart management centre, which exploited some of the basic components of transport infrastructure and smart tourism; studied and deployed some basic components in the fields of health, education and training, electricity, environment and smart agriculture, he added. — VNS