Eight prominent IT events in 2006

VietNamNet Bridge – The year 2006 saw a series of important events in the information technology world in Vietnam. Here comes the list of the top eight.

Bill Gate’s visit to Vietnam

Bill Gates

The boss of Microsoft paid an official working mission to Vietnam on April 22, 2006, marking a memorable event in the domestic IT industry. His open talks and sharing deeply touched the hearts of thousands of Vietnamese students at Hanoi University of Technology and IT experts. Moreover, he was strongly impressed by the dynamism, creativeness and love for IT of Vietnamese students.

During his visit, Bill Gate spent time meeting with Government authorities, IT leaders in Vietnam, focusing on the development of computer software. He also visited some trade villages in Bac Ninh province, enjoying Vietnamese betel and areca, a symbol of traditional Vietnamese weddings.

Despite his short visit, Bill Gate brought a wind of change into the IT industry of Vietnam, adding that Vietnam would be a business partner of Microsoft. The visit also paved the way for more foreign investment into Vietnam.

Intel opens its biggest chip factory in Vietnam

In late February 2006, Intel opened a factory to produce semiconductor chips in HCM City, the largest in Southeast Asia with the total investment of 605mil USD.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, at that time acting Deputy PM, attended the ceremony to grant the business licence to Intel Corporation.

Thanks to a favourable investment environment, preferential policies, growth potential and the Government’s proper guidelines, Intel Corporation decided to increase its investment to 1bil USD last November, becoming the biggest American investment project in Vietnam.

The factory will kick off its operation in 2009 on the area of 150,000 square meters with 4,000 labourers and 100% products to be exported.

FPT University, the first private IT university to be founded

In September, the Government officially approved the establishment of FPT University, the first IT training institution belonging to an enterprise. The university will apply international standards in enrolment, administration and training methodology. Despite the high tuition fee of 900USD/semester, the university has got 4,000 student’s dossiers and received 1000 phone calls for consultations. The university’s foundation meets the requirements of many parents and students, especially as IT has become the hot profession among youngsters.

Vietnam takes the lead in WIMAX trial

Vietnam has been successful in bringing WIMAX technology to many locals living in remote and mountainous areas. This is the first IT application in Vietnam and the world helping to popularise information to raise people’s awareness about socio-economic development strategies.

There are four companies in Vietnam applying this WIMAX system: VDC, Viettel, VTC and FPT.

Software copyrights: hot issue

Software copyrights have become an alarming issue as Vietnam has to initiate its commitments to the WTO.

Several renowned agencies and companies have taken the lead in using protected software applications such as FPT, Vietcombank, BIDV. The Government has raised people’s awareness in the field to minimise the risk of facing legal proceedings by foreign companies due to software violations.

Rampant YM viruses

The year 2006 witnessed different types of virus spreading on YM. Most of the viruses were named gracefully to attract Internet users’ curiosity. Noticeably, all the culprits were students, who consider spreading viruses on the Internet a way to show off their IT excellence. Yet, none of the Internet criminals were punished. The movement only seemed to stop when Internet users raised their awareness of self-protection.

Yahoo 360 blog booming

Personal websites have become popular in Vietnam; however, it was not until the booming of Yahoo 360 blog that the lifestyle of Vietnamese people was revolutionised, especially the young generation. Composing blog entries has become part of many youngsters, changing their attitudes about online communication.

Information on blogs is able to spread even more rapidly than through the mass media. A blog is not only a personal corner but a window for friend sharing and understanding. Bloggers have joined forces to launch many meaningful activities such as charity campaigns for the poor and homeless children.

Online games with concrete regulations

Different from the exciting images of online games in 2005, the year 2006 witnessed a boring game playground. Despite many new kinds of games being rolled out, none seemed to have created a breakthrough in online entertainment.

On November 14, the HCM City Department of Post and Telematics launched a circular ordering all online game suppliers to renovate their contents and techniques, as well as limit the time of playing to avoid bad impacts on players’ health. Any game supplier violating the circular will be strictly punished or banned from business operations.

(Source: VNE)