Decision 211/TTg

DECISION No DECISION No.211-TTg ON THE 7TH OF APRIL 1995 OF THE PRIME MINISTER APPROVING THE NATIONAL PROGRAM FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY THE PRIME MINISTER Considering Official Dispatch No.405-CNTT on the 28th of February 1995 asking for the approval of the master plan for the National Program for Information Technology; At the proposals of the State Planning Committee embodied in Official Dispatch No.3690-UB-KHGDMT on the 8th of December 1994, and of the Ministry of Finance in Official Dispatch No.2843-TC-HCVX on the 31st of October 1994, DECIDES: Article 1.- To approve the National Program for Information Technology - the Master Plan through to the year 2000. Article 2.- The Minister of Science, Technology and Environment, the Minister of Finance, the Chairman of the State Planning Committee, the Governor of the State Bank, and the Heads of the related branches are responsible for the implementation of this Decision. The Prime Minister VO VAN KIET THE NATIONAL PROGRAM FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY THE MASTER PLAN THROUGH TO YEAR 2000 (Issued together with Decision No.211-TTg on the 7th of April 1995) The Government's Resolution No.49-CP on the 4th of August 1993 on developing Information Technology (IT) in our country in the 1990's outlined the situation of IT in our country, laid down the approaches, objectives and contents of our IT development through to the year 2000, and the major measures to materialize those important lines. This master plan outlines systematically the works to be carried out from now to the year 2000 in implementation of the said Resolution No.49-CP. The overall objective of the development of IT in our country through to the year 2000, as defined by Resolution No.49-CP, is : To lay the initial and firm foundation for an information infrastructure in society, which is able of meeting the essential needs for information in State management and socio-economic activities; at the same time, actively to build the IT industry into one of the spearheads of the country so as to prepare our country to assume a worthy role in the region at the onset of the 21st century. This overall objective is translated into the following concrete goals: a) To build systems of computers and transmission facilities which are to be linked into networks and which have adequately strong software and databases, and are able of serving State management and other vital activities of the national economy. A number of domestic information networks are to be linked with international networks; b) To develop on a broad basis IT application so as to help boost productivity, quality and efficiency of production and business, and gradually modernize important production and service branches and national security and defense. To promote IT application in basic surveys, exploration of natural resources and environment, scientific research and other activities; c) To popularize "information culture" in society so as to create a favorable environment in preparation for the coming of an "information society". d) To lay the groundwork for the formation of an IT industry able of producing valuable information products and services, with priority given to the development of "software" and, at the same time, to make full use of the abilities in technology transfer, so as to develop appropriately units in the production of component parts and equipment of modern information technology. To implement the above goals, the overall plan for the development of information technology in our country will be focused on the following contents : 1. To develop all resources and build the IT infrastructure so as to enable the IT industry to implement projects of computerization to be applied widely and deeply in all socio-economic fields; and at the same time to take firm steps to build up the IT industry of the country. 2. To carry out key projects on computerization in State management and all fields of socio-economic development, and apply IT to the industrialization and modernization of the national production and economy. I. DEVELOPING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SOURCES AND BUILDING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE 1. Education and training in IT : a) The necessary personnel structure for IT development : The contingent of professionals needed for IT development in our country in the coming years shall be composed mainly of specialists on analysis and design of systems and programs, IT instructors and researchers, textbook compilers, experts on installation, maintenance and repair of computer equipment, system experts to install and maintain software systems, experts on computer nets and communications, economic analysts for information systems, and administrators to manage informatics projects. This contingent should have at least 20,000 personnel to meet the needs through to the year 2000. Of this number, more than a half are to be programmers, about one fourth system analysts, and another one fourth specialists in other fields. Along with this contingent of IT professionals, there should be plans for education and training to supply leading and managerial personnel and specialists to all socio-economic fields with the necessary knowledge and skills to utilize IT equipment as a modern labor tool in their specialities. A measure of utmost importance is to promote the popularization of informatics in secondary schools so as to familiarize the young generations with IT knowledge and modern facilities, and create a broad basis for the rapid selection and training of the future IT professionals. b) Measures to strengthen IT education and training : In order to have the above-mentioned IT resources, from now to the year 2000, the following key measures will be taken : - To build new or perfect IT faculties at universities and polytechnic colleges throughout the country. These faculties should be adequately equipped with modern computers and communications facilities, have formal training programs, and be able to attract (full-time and part-time) trainers and skillful specialists in information technology throughout the country. In the 1995-96 period, work should start immediately to strengthen (or reorganize) the IT faculties at the National Universities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and the Polytechnic Colleges in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Danang City, so as to enable each of them to enroll annually from 100 to 200 students for 4-year courses. To start vocational training with a two-year program to train program developers and informatics technicians. This training program will be implemented at the IT faculties of universities, or in IT vocational schools. From now to the year 2000, this training system must be able to enroll annually about 2,000 new students. - Along with the vocational training given at the said IT faculties, training in IT application should be promoted for students of scientific, technological and economic disciplines outside informatics. Retraining courses should be opened to train a good number of cadres, engineers and graduate students of other disciplines (mathematics, economics, technologies, etc.) into informatics specialists. - To build a number of advanced IT training centers. These centers will organize short or medium-term training courses so as to elevate the standard, and provide upgraded IT knowledge and methods for our specialists and trainers and researchers. These advanced training centers will be organized at the Ministry of Education and Training, at the universities, research centers, or as independent centers set up by businesses and non-governmental organizations. They will be financed partly by the State budget and partly by other financial resources, including various forms of cooperation with foreign partners, from multinational corporations to domestic informatics enterprises. - To overcome the critical shortage of key instructors and specialists for training programs and application projects, there will be an annual plan to send our specialists to overseas re-training or advanced training, along with sending advanced students to formal training courses in developed countries. - To actively continue the implementation of the project for informatics education at secondary schools, along the line of better and more synchronized preparations in all fields: designing training programs, compiling teaching documents and textbooks, new training and re-training instructors, supply of computers, etc. - To encourage the opening of schools and classes to train computer users in programs which require short practice and are applicable to different levels of pre-training knowledge, so as to make computer literacy a tool for the labor force which is becoming larger each day in society. the State will support the Informatics Association and other organizations in informatics in their efforts to develop programs for disseminating IT knowledge through the press, radio, television, etc. - To promote IT application in education and training, first of all to study and develop high-quality training programs. In the coming years, efforts will be made to develop informatics educational software to better serve the popularization of IT education and disseminate IT knowledge in society. This will be followed by a gradual expansion of the scope of the software in foreign language teaching and other school disciplines, as well as the education software for specialized trainees. 2. IT research and development : a) Defining the goals for IT research and development : The fundamental objective of IT research and development in our country, as identified in Resolution No.49-CP, is to absorb modern knowledge, and closely monitor IT development trends in the world in order to: - Make appropriate policy options for technology transfer for the building of the infrastructure for information technology in our country; - Acquire the abilities for study, analysis and designing of informatics systems, along with developing software application programs for projects of IT application in the fields of State management and socio-economic development; - Study, design and manufacture IT products, especially software and specialized products in service of the modernization of industrial production, with a view to helping orient and take part in the building of the information technology in our country. In line with this fundamental objective, in the coming years, IT research and development shall focus on research in applications and create a firm potential for a good transfer of knowledge and technology, thus contributing to the improvement of the quality and efficiency of the IT application within the country. Basic research is encouraged along a number of orientations in which we have the abilities and conditions. b) Organizing IT research and development : To organize the implementation of the above-said goals, it is necessary to review and re-evaluate the efficiency, orientation and contents of the operation of the existing research institutions; on that basis, active measures shall be taken to re-orient and strengthen the existing contingent of researchers and the material-technical basis for R&D activities, namely: - To build the Institute of Information Technology under the National Center for Natural Sciences and Technology, along with a number of other key research institutes (under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, the Ministry of Heavy Industry, etc.), into the mainstay for IT research and development. - To strengthen the IT faculties at universities so that, along with their functions in education and training, they shall become important R&D units in information technology, able of promoting the potentials of the instructor contingent, and attracting young people into R&D activities. - To apply policies for support and incentive measures, and to encourage the opening of IT research and development sections in branches, localities and companies of all economic sectors, with investment coming from domestic sources or from joint ventures with foreign partners. - To speedily build the network for data transmission in service of education, research and development inside the country in compliance with the Internet protocols and standards, and through a common port to connect it with the Internet so as to create conditions for our educators, researchers and developers to exchange information among themselves and with their foreign colleagues. 3. Developing IT industry: a) Contents of development of IT industry in our country : IT industry is a spearhead industry. However, it is still new to our country. The building of an IT industry should therefore be conducted actively and, at the same time, be analyzed and calculated carefully to avoid the likely risks and waste. Priority should be given to developing software industry and improving servicing technology. The market for the software products and services of this industry shall, in the initial period, be mostly domestic and, through the accumulation of experience and at a certain level of maturity, shall expand to outside markets. In the coming period, it is necessary to rapidly develop the contingent of software developers to meet the needs in software application programs and acquire shares in the domestic software market, and to develop specialized software programs (such as for processing documents and data in the Vietnamese language) and import substitutes (for software programs that cannot be imported or has to be imported at high prices), etc. At the same time, it is necessary to rapidly develop professional services in information technology, which are to include services in system planning, designing, accumulation, maintenance and repair and services in office automation, etc., to meet the ever-increasing needs of the domestic market in software application programs. The hardware industry requires large capital investment and must be built on the basis of an industrialized economy. In the coming years, we need to make full use of all the possibilities in joint venture and technology transfer to develop a number of production and assembly units of informatics equipment according to plans which have been calculated as profitable and, at the same time, establish units for designing and manufacturing specialized telecommunication and informatics equipment to meet domestic needs, especially those for data transmission, automation and modernization of manufacturing industries. It is necessary to invest in personnel training to "develop the hardware industry on the basis of the software industry," which has been proved an appropriate and promising trend at present. Multinational corporations in information technology which set up computer manufacturing factories in Vietnam and employ Vietnamese workers shall be entitled to preferential treatment under the Vietnamese investment law. b) Incentive measures for development of IT industry: - The R&D institutes, informatics faculties at universities and the domestic informatics companies are encouraged to develop software application programs by being given favorable and preferential conditions in bidding for development of software products for IT application projects for the State management system as well as for the other socio-economic sectors. The institutes, which have the necessary conditions, are also encouraged, and given investment, to engage in research, designing and manufacturing of specialized informatics equipment. - To promote and support the establishment of a number of software-developing centers (some of which may have the starting capital provided by the State budget) which may operate independently, or within institutes, schools or informatics companies. - To assist the formation and support the operation of an association of software developers to facilitate the exchange of ideas and experience, and organize such collective activities as seminars, training, participation in commercial delegations and getting acquainted with contracts and laws on trading of software programs. - To build an IT industrial sector within the hi-tech industrial park, along with the start of an export-oriented software-developing project, considering it an experimental step and an active preparation for the possible future industry of software programs for export. This project shall be implemented through technology transfer, with the cooperation of foreign experts and overseas Vietnamese. With a view to actively assisting the rapid development of the IT industry, especially the software industry, it is necessary to stipulate essential policies, such as tax exemption or reduction for software products, protection of intellectual property of software products, export assistance, providing financial support for training, sending personnel for overseas training, taking part in international technical exchanges, encouraging and creating favorable conditions for overseas Vietnamese experts to return home for cooperation, assisting the start of software centers by providing them with State stocks, subsidies and preferential credits, and helping them find joint venture partners. 4. Data transmission: a) Demands for data transmission: Data transmission is now in its formative stage in Vietnam. In recent years, the need for data transmission has seen strong development, along with the deployment of informatics systems in banking, financial and commercial services. The post service has started the formation of the VIETPAC X.25 network with fiber optic cable, and the provision of services in data transmission through public packet switching network. This network, once completed and connected with the digitized telephone network, shall provide an important instrument to put into operation data transmission networks for IT application projects in socio-economic branches. The rapid application of information technology to State management systems and the modernization of the information infrastructure of the country requires the construction and deployment of projects of national scale with a potentially large demand for data transmission. In the initial stage, priority should be given to meeting demands in data transmission in the field of State management, development of the market economy, education, and research and development. The demand for data transmission shall increase rapidly as our economy and country integrates itself more broadly and profoundly into the international community. b) Project for national data transmission network : On the basis of the transmission network built by the Post and Telecommunication Service, the project for a national data transmission network is tasked to develop a network of basic services for data transmission, in order to provide the infrastructure and services for all needs in data transmission in society. The network shall be able of providing data transmission services in different modes, such as: - Public switching telephone network (PSTN), - Public packet switching network (PPSN), - Integrated services digital network (ISDN), - Requested wave-band services,in order to meet the needs of users in transmitting files from point to point or among multiple points, in real-time data exchange, forming independent data- bases, connecting local-area networks (LAN) into a wide-area network (WAN), organizing the electronicmail network, etc. The national data transmission network will by the end of 1995 be able of providing X25-channel packet switching service to all provincial towns and a number of districts and, by the end of 1996, to more than 400 districts throughout the country. By the year 2000, it is expected that the basic needs for multi-speed data transmission to all territories of the country will have been met. The project National Network for Data Transmission shall therefore be actively implemented to provide the necessary services for the development of IT application projects in th