[Podcast] Computers and “Not Going Alone” Technology - Part 3: “The Difficulties” of Computer and Technology Human Resources

Era 5.0 – The era of a super-intelligent society is what will happen and the timeline is very close: 2035 or maybe earlier. “The rise of a series of super technologies” – “Enhancing human-machine interaction” – “human-centered” are the “hot” keywords upon referring to this period. Keeping up with the trend of the times, UEH does believe that: More than ever, administrators and leaders in the fields of Business, Economics, Law, State Management, Data, and Communication need to understand and to know how Apply Computers and Technology to their majors and professions. This is the motivation for UEH to deploy application knowledge series of Computer and “Don't go alone” Technology comprising 5 attractive parts thanks to the participation of the leading experts.

Experts sharing the topic ‘Obstacles of human resources regarding Computer and Technology”

The rapid progress in the technology era has created difficulties for human resources in the field of Computer and Technology, especially when technical personnel have little understanding of business and professional personnel know nothing abou technology. This challenge is one of the barriers to digital transformation in an organization. The question is what exactly are those challenges? With the topic “Obstacles regarding human resources in Computer and Technology”, Part 3 of the application knowledge series of Computer and “Don't go alone” Technology will bring readers practical sharing from experienced experts in many fields as follows: Mr. Ngo Van Toan - Chairman of BTZ Group; Dr. Ngo Tan Vu Khanh - Senior Consultant of Kaspersky Lab VN; Mr. Nguyen Duc Minh Quan - Director of Smart Solution Center, FPT IS Company; Mr. Phi Anh Tuan - Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Computer Association; under the coordination of Dr. Thai Kim Phung - Vice President of UEH College of Technology and Design.

The demand for Computer and Information Technology human resources will be increasing greatly in the upcoming time

Thai Kim Phung: Dear Mr. Phi Anh Tuan as Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Informatics Association, what is your pointview regarding the current labor market situation in terms of the field of computers and Information Technology (IT) in Vietnam as well as in the world?

Mr. Phi Anh Tuan: From the perspective of Ho Chi Minh City Computer Association, we would like to present some overall assessments as follows:

Firstly, the IT workforce is continuing to grow, especially in international outsourcing companies. Another need is that young people have been starting their own businesses in international environments, no longer in Vietnam.

Secondly, the number of officials, employees and employees of the end-user units (for example: businesses and organizations) is increasing. Why is it so high? Because of the fact that the needs of Vietnam’s National Digital Transformation program are very detailed and quantifiable, the program provides the concept or indicators of digital management for public agencies.

Thirdly, it is the issue regarding the management of the digital economy, in other words, how businesses can increase labor productivity with information technology.

Last but not least, the digital society should aim at serving people who can receive as many IT achievements as possible.

The asessment from Ho Chi Minh City Computer Association is as follows: (1) In terms of the new graduatee force, very high professional expertises are being trained; (2) In terms of the internal forces of enterprises, they need to be trained in technology knowledge in addition to business knowledge so as to increase competitiveness and business efficiency.

In short, the demand for Computer and Information Technology human resources will be increasing greatly in the coming time. One of the points that should be considered is that: if training is separated between the information technology sector and the professional industry (listed as Economics, Marketing or other fields), there will be a gap between the two sides. In other words, information technology students graduate very well but lack professional knowledge. On the contrary, many of you, like economics students, do not have the initial equipment in terms of system, technology application, especially the speed of change in technology which is becoming higher and higher like nowadays.

Sharing session from leading experts in the field of Computer and Technology

The current challenges towards human resource in Technology and Computer

Thai Kim Phung: With the sharing by Mr. Phi Anh Tuan, a clear picture of the human resource needs of the computer and information technology fields in Vietnam as well as in the world has been presented. The upcoming questions is for Mr. Ngo Van Toan - Chairman of BTZ Group, one of the leading technology experts in Vietnam. Previously, the field of technology and computers was associated with the technical environment. What is the current challenge for these personnel? Are there any difficulties for the personnel you have recruited?

Mr. Ngo Van Toan: Discussing the challenges of human resources in the field of information technology, there is the variety of angles for us to consider. I will temporarily divide them into two as follows: those as the new graduates and those with experiences at specialized and expert levels.

In terms of information technology, Vietnam is one of the countries that are internationally evaluated as rather strong and well developed. Nevertheless, we cannot be complacent; rather, we must be aware that there exist challenges. Students and recent graduates face the challenge of limited practical skills. This means that the reference program for foreign programs is rather good; the point is that many graduates lack practical skills is a concern that universities, curently, are coordinating with businesses to gradually narrow this down.

The second point we can recognize is that the characteristics of information technology industries is the completely high integration capacity compared to that of other industries. As a result, English ability is a very important thing, it is easy to identify that many very young persons or/and small startups who have made international connections occupy good development related to not only the technical matters but also the business of raising capital. If you work in foreign companies or foreign projects, English ability is very important. Honestly speaking, this is one difficult point not only for fresh graduates but also for those who have been working for many years. Compared to the situation of 10 years ago, the current situation is much better.

In terms of the second layer, information technology is not simply a science and technology; actually, it is an industry - a powerful industry. As an industry, it must be confirmed that products towards reaching the customers must go through a lot of stages, not just technical work.

We have witnessed that: a lot of products, startups and companies have tried their best but ended up bankruptcy or failing because these products couldn’t get to market. Information technology is identified as an industry as it will have a full range of roles from understanding customer needs, marketing, sales, supply chain, etc. to how to finally get to the market. With an industry that includes all these stages, technical problems are only part of it. This leads to the situation that: even if we are new to school or have long experience, linking the entire value chain mentioned above is being our limitation. Do we make products not only for the satisfaction of making products, the point is, ultimately, anyone uses them? Do their customers know thée products? Do they use it? As a result, it involves a lot of knowledge and expertise in business.

If we do not have the basic knowledge of economics, as well as finance, we will not be able to make a true product and bring it to the market, I think this is the challenge in general.

The sharing session being lively

The role of information technology towards running a business

Thai Kim Phung: Mr. Ngo Van Toan shared the difficulties in the field of computers and IT very clearly. It implies both engineering and a powerful industry; in addition to very in-depth technical knowledge, we need to have certain knowledge related to this application field to offer products that meet the needs of the market. The next question is: What is the role of information technology in operating a business? Please give the floor to Mr. Nguyen Duc Minh Quan - Director of Smart Solution Center, FPT IS Company.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Minh Quan: Information Technology plays an increasingly important role, becoming an indispensable component in the management of a business. Information technology or technology both help businesses and promote the existing values of the business, for example, IT can help improve performance, improve management capacity, business capacity of enterprises. Applying ERP solutions for human resource management, automated solutions, warehouse management, etc., will help the business activities of the unit become better with less time and lower fee.

In addition, IT makes it easier for businesses to connect with customers. Never can a business can deliver a message to customers as simply as today. We have social networks, we have chat, OTP/OTT solutions (technologies of authentication methods) that are able to deliver messages to customers, it helps the business get better and better. In addition, IT helps businesses discover new values that have never been available to businesses in the past. For example, when applying information technology Big data, big data analysis, AI, Machine Learning, businesses can exploit the rich data sources that businesses already have during their operations. After that, these data will become extremely valuable. This value will become the sustainable value of the company, shareholders and each employee in the business.

Another point to be mentioned, technology can be stated to be a big component promoting innovation in businesses. Technology is the limitless inspiration for creativity. Here, technology will help employees and managers with new solutions, new services that provide new values for customers. This will open up new business lines for customers. A remarkable point, businesses, in terms of the future labor markets, will only focus on recruiting employees with technology capabilities. It can be affirmed that technologies take away jobs. In fact, in the past, technology did replace us. Machines used to replace workers. The workers who are to be replaced here refer to those workers who do not know how to use machines. Computer Internet used to replace the employee.

With the development of technology, students - those who are preparing to join the labor process - should actively equip themselves with technological knowledge to prepare for technological advancements that are not to replace us in the future.

Thai Kim Phung: Thank you Mr. Quan - an expert from FPT Information System Joint Stock Company – is currently working as the Director of the Smart Solution Center. He has shares related to the role of IT applications in business activities. In addition to the current operational roles, information technology creates new values, especially promoting the innovation process in businesses. Besides, he mentioned that: when we put technology into the system, it is likely that personnel and some related departments will decrease. The personnel involved in the application areas listed as finance, sales and marketing personnel. In the current context, how is the access to technology? Do they need to update their technological knowledge? This question is especially for Mr. Phi Anh Tuan who can help the seminar answer more questions regarding personnel. How will they access technology? How is the application speed?

Mr. Phi Anh Tuan: I think that the story that we have to learn, have to approach new technologies is a naturally continuous thing in a business operation life. In this story, we have to identify first and that personnel department also has to identify it, too. I take an example that: if it changes very quickly, in accordance with the flow that Mr. Quan just shared before, the warehouse management business we are doing is very normal. Nevertheless, while we are following, it is difficult for businesses to start moving because the management for online sales is completely different from that of the traditional warehouse. Warehouse management was formerly a warehouse for goods, packaging, and production processing within the enterprise. On the other hand, the warehouse for e-commerce is being very different. In other words, at that time, the items were small, in large number, closed continuously, running continuously to be promptly delivered to the other staffs and online sellers, here I did not use the term ‘businesses’ anymore. We have to admit that the transition is very powerful and we have to get used to the mobile apps. We have to get used to it, when we go to inventory does not meam that we are coming to the warehouse anymore, we just use the code or use the iPad to check. That implies the involvement of technology in the management process.

For those of you who are studying in a professional way, I think that we have to train the basic operating principles of the business. It is imperative that students have an understanding of technology trends in their professions. However, everything has a downside. If we depend a lot on technology, it is to lose our ability to handle situations. For example, GPT Chat, all students, even high school students, can learn more about one certain major more conveniently. However, dealing with situations in the business process is a skill that means that: when you approach, you must apply technology in your work to exploit all the knowledge that you already have on the Internet. The second is data processing skills so that we can solve all situations well. Those who grasp both issues like those, I believe they always have deserving positions in the corporate organization.

The needs regarding Information security and job positions

Thai Kim Phung: Thank you, Mr. Tuan. The service department has to stay on top of technology trends to get the job performed better. The digital transformation process is associated with the application of technology in businesses. Upon mentioning computers or information technology, we are facing a lot of information security problems. A question to Mr. Ngo Tuan Vu Khanh - one of the senior consultants of KasperSky lab Vietnam is your pointview regarding the need for information security in factories, enterprises and enterprises as well as the job positions concerning information security?

Mr. Ngo Tuan Vu Khanh: Before answering Mr. Phung’s question, I would like to give some data to demonstrate Vietnam’s human resources. Firstly, in accordance with the international organization for information security and the world’s leading security companies, listed as Kaspersky in Asia Pacific, there is currently a shortage of approximately 2 million information security professionals. In Vietnam, in accordance with the statistics from the Information Security Department under the Ministry of Communications in 2021-2022, currently, there is approximately from 50,000 to 60,000 employees in information security. However, the number needed for the rapid development of technology in recent years, the Information Security Department notes the number at 700,000. From this, the need for 700,000 information security personnel is to be paid attention. However, the fact that the current market is only 50,000 is a huge missing number.

The information above is mainly centering the core data. In terms of the practical situation, during the implementation of information technology systems and mass information security in Vietnam and Indochina, some completely important points must be presented as follows: Being as an absolutely concerning situation, it is a completely high-quality human resource as well as a human resource spread in the information security industries in Vietnam. Most of the problems of information security risks, even those of targeted attacks, come from human resources, not from technology. This is the most dangerous problem due to the variety of solutions in terms of information security and cryptographic solutions. On the other hand, the operator of that solution is being in shortage, especially human resources in the so-called information security disciplines, all of whom think that information security and security is a specific industry of information technology. Although it is assumed that information technology is inherently special, information security is specialized, too.

In accordance with this specificity, one of those characteristics is human resources. To some extent, human information security plays a key role, not technology. This feature is quite surprising to some of the audience. In addition, the recent technology trends favor centralized management which is often called as Cybersecurity Operations Monitoring Center. In order to establish a network security monitoring and operating center with tens of thousands of users, the need to understand how to operate a business (business operation) or as a domain expert is very important regarding the problem of information preservation and security upon building one Cybersecurity Monitoring and Operations Center. The reason is that we do not understand how the business exists from sales, marketing, If the warehouse and finance cannot assess the risks, we can never do the story of ensuring safety concerning the Network Monitoring and Operation Center. In addition, one more point directly related to the issue of people is businesses and information security. That is to say, Kaspersky recently reported that Vietnam is the leading country in terms of number of scams, or fraudulent calls. Vietnam is the leader in fraud in Southeast Asia and Asia - Pacific. Obviously, we are having a huge problem of awareness security. This reflects that the current information security industry is lacking human resources.

At this time being, there is a gap between information technology human resources and big business without a single harmony between the two. This situation results from the fact that it is not safe to believe without a knowledge of the business, exactly the same to the situation that we are scammed.

Thai Kim Phung: Mr. Khanh has introduced a relatively clear view concerning information security personnels who are both technical personnel and must have a great understanding of people, management processes. Similar to the specialized field of Information Technology, we are required to update and supplement knowledge related to business and operations in addition to the knowledge related to technology.

Currently, with the rapid development of technology, there is a huge shortage of human resources in Vietnam in general and internationally, especially in terms of quantity and quality. In addition to technical and technical expertise, those who are trained in machinery and IT need to have certain knowledge related to the application field. This is an advice for the training institutions to think, to consider and to adapt their training programs so as to be able to adapt to the current labor market related to the field of computers and information technology.

This is an article in the series of spreading research and applied knowledge from UEH with “Research Contribution For All - Nghiên Cứu Vì Cộng Đồng” message, UEH cordially invites readers to watch the upcoming Knowledge Newsletter DIGITAL ECONOMY #79