The application of technology to solve the pandemic-induced challenges also accelerates the digital transformation process in each industry and field, contributing to the expansion of national digital transformation. Vietnam will come out of the pandemic in a new state - a strongly digitalised country and society.

Sharing burden with the health sector

In the face of a constantly increasing number of COVID-19 cases, Ho Chi Minh City has decided to shift its anti-pandemic strategy to a new stage. Accordingly, the calculation of positive cases is no longer a focus, instead it is now the treatment of F0 cases and the minimisation of related deaths. The southern city has been urgently investing in facilities, human resources, equipment, and medicines, striving to increase its capacity of receiving patients for treatment every day.

However, with about 35,000 F0 cases being treated, including nearly 1,500 severe cases, HCM City’s medical infrastructure and personnel are suffering enormous pressure. Fully understanding the advantages of technology, and also to share the burden with the health sector, the Quang Trung Software City Development Company Limited (QTSC) has coordinated with the TMA Innovation Company (TMA Innovation) to develop the solution “Health monitoring watch” for F0 patients.

TMA Innovation CEO Tran Quoc Hong said that the watch will continuously monitor and update a patient’s health indicators with no need for direct contact from medical staff. Through the measured indicators, medical workers can quickly detect abnormal signs, thereby providing prompt treatment and increasing the chances of saving the patient’s life. This technology also helps to reduce direct visits and limit contact between patients and medical staff, thus contributing to reducing the risk of infection. The solution will be piloted at several field hospitals in HCM City this month. A summary will be composed and reported to the municipal authorities for consideration and widespread deployment.

HCM City is also speeding up the vaccination process to soon reach the target of herd immunity. To ensure the inoculation process takes place quickly, safely and effectively on a large scale, the solution “National COVID-19 Immunisation Management Platform” has been implemented in parallel with the immunisation campaign. Director of the Digital Health Solutions Centre at Viettel Business Solutions Corp (the deverloper of the solution) Khong Van Dong said that the platform helps people proactively and conveniently participate in vaccination in the context that the city is currently applying the Prime Ministe’s Directive No. 16/CT-TTg on social distancing.

Upon arriving for vaccine shots at an injection point that applies the platform, it only takes a few seconds for people to confirm information with a QR code. Their information will be updated to a centralised management database and people can look up their “COVID-19 vaccination certificate” on the ‘Electronic Health Book’ application or on the COVID-19 Immunisation Portal. Allowing people to register for inoculation in advance through the mobile app also helps to reduce contact between the injector and the person in charge of information verification. This vaccination platform has been working effectively since it was deployed in HCM City on July 21, and has received a lot of positive feedback from the people.

“Two days after getting immunised, my vaccination certificate has been updated on the Electronic Health Book application. From now on, when I go through the quarantine points, I can scan the QR Code to provide my vaccination status. Moreover, this will also be the basis for applying for a vaccine passport in the future,” said Hoang Tung, who got a vaccine dose in An Khanh Ward, Thu Duc City.

The “National COVID-19 Immunisation Management Platform” solution has been replicated to 62 out of 63 cities and provinces nationwide. As shown in Viettel’s statistics, there are now nearly 3.5 million Vietnamese people with electronic certificates of COVID-19 vaccination. The system is also ready to meet five million shots per day to serve the Health Ministry’s enhanced and expanded immunisation requirements.

Supporting businesses to adapt to the new situation

Amidst the complicated developments of the pandemic, the Office of MISA Joint Stock Company in HCM City, with its 700 employees, has implemented remote work as a COVID-19 prevention measure. In this process, the company applies MISA AMIS, a unified corporate governance platform developed by MISA itself, to ensure that all activities are not interrupted. MISA Office Director Le Huu Nguyen said that the platform integrates work management software that helps to track the situation of assignment as well as the implementation progress of each department and project team in a specific manner and with no errors. In addition, it features software managing sales and monitoring the preparation of offer data of each department, as well as the operation status of each section and centre by day. As a result, the company’s leaders, despite being in Hanoi, are still well aware of the situation, business opportunities as well as the revenue and profits of the entire branch in HCM City. They even clearly know the conversion rate of sales opportunities into revenue of each employee, towards making assessments and providing timely support and training.

“In addition to solving our own problems, MISA has been supporting more than 12,000 enterprises to use the MISA AMIS toolkit to maintain effective remote operations. In the current period, revenue from the MISA AMIS platform is increasingly expanding with many businesses having made orders to organise remote operations,” said Nguyen.

Many other technological solutions are also being applied by enterprises to adapt to the pandemic situation. In order to control employees entering and leaving buildings, and thus limit the spread of the disease, the headquarters of many units such as QTSC or Saigon Transportation Mechanical Corporation (SAMCO) have applied a solution on health declaration and control of employees’ entry and exit at factories, buildings and offices. This solution combines many functions in one device such as mask checking, automatic temperature measurement, medical declaration and entry/exit control. The device also applies facial and ID card recognition technology, video call, and QR code to help in processing documents and exchanging with each other remotely, as well as limiting contact.

In another aspect, the COVID-19 pandemic is a “catalyst” to help businesses realise the necessity of science and technology application. According to Dr. To Hoai Nam, Vice Chairman and General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, businesses proactively applying technology to respond to challenges from the pandemic will suffer less. Even, many firms have proactively and quickly researched and applied technology to increase their customer access, change business methods, and restructure products to suit new practical conditions, such as researching and developing technological solutions for pandemic prevention and control. Chairman of Tan Phu District Business Association (HCM City) Nguyen Viet Toan said that technology application and digital transformation are inevitable trends helping enterprises measure business efficiency and increase their competitiveness against others.

With COVID-19 still developing in a complicated manner, the pressure is on for businesses to implement digital transformation as quickly as possible. Enterprises with financial resources should strongly invest in technology to stand a better chance of success. However, the majority of enterprises are mainly small and medium-sized and equipped with poor digital technology infrastructure. In order to create a breakthrough in digital transformation among SMEs, the State needs to offer more substantive support policies, while promoting propaganda to change businesses’ awareness and offering advice so that the process of implementing digital transformation brings higher efficiency.