VietNamNet would like to introduce Minister Nguyen Manh Hung's speech on development opportunities for “Make in Vietnam” social networks, at the launch event of a Vietnamese social networking platform.

The Internet has a cycle of 15 years. The first cycle, or the first 15 years, was to build the infrastructure and foundation of an online world, with such names as Cisco and Microsoft. The second cycle, or the second 15 years, was for mobile phones, social media and economic platforms, with names like Facebook, Google and Apple. These two cycles are tied to Internet companies, mostly global names.

The third cycle can be considered starting from 2015, when the Internet became integrated into every part of human life. New names will appear. It won't just be Internet companies, not only content and community anymore, but there must be more context. A specific context will generate specific knowledge and value. A Vietnamese context, a Vietnamese problem must have a Vietnamese solution. This third wave of Internet will be an opportunity for local companies to use global technology to solve local problems. This third wave of the Internet also needs a new culture - a culture of cooperation. It will not be destruction for replacement of the second wave but cooperative destruction.

Social networks also need a new approach. The enormous value created by the community cannot be enjoyed by a single person, but must be shared. The community needs to control the rules of the game, they must be the owners of the game, and not the victims of hidden algorithms. The platform can be global, but it must allow Sub-Platforms to be created to solve specific-context problems. The platform must be clean enough to create a healthy environment. Anything that violates the core values of humanity and social morality must be automatically eliminated by the platform. Promoting cooperation with industries and individuals brings on the foundation of new values.

The new generation of social networks of Vietnam must be a product of the third Internet wave, a new approach: a commitment to cooperation, a commitment to sharing benefits, a commitment to healthy content to spread positive energy, a commitment to individualization, a commitment to a contextual approach. These commitments are to address new needs through the latest technologies and dedicated development teams.

In a business world where the winners take almost all, the followers have only one way to come up with a new, different, groundbreaking approach. Any success will then reveal defects. The problem is solved, the needs are satisfied, then new needs will emerge. New breakthrough technologies will be born and new business models will appear to meet the new needs of the market and of users. That's why new start-ups will replace the giant ones again. And that's evolution. It is similar to an eternal rule. Vietnamese start-ups should have this belief to start a business.

We express our appreciation for the commitment of Vietnamese digital technology businesses. Investing in a difficult area. Entering a market already dominated by global giants. Doing one thing that many other Vietnamese businesses have tried and failed. Doing something that social psychology generally thinks is not feasible. But if not, and no one else does, and not only here but everywhere else, what will Vietnam be like?

Vietnam is a latecomer, and there won't be anything easy left for us. But we won't see it as just a challenge, but as an opportunity. Because easy work never creates talent. The average job creates the average person. Hard work creates good people. Great works create great people. In the near future, the Ministry of Information and Communications will raise more difficult problems, perhaps very difficult, but will always be the problems that, if solved successfully, will bring about great economic value to businesses in the ICT sector.

Vietnamese start-ups are the meeting of people of technology who aspire to new approaches, new technologies, to respond to new needs and Vietnamese investors who aspire to build a prosperous and mightly Vietnam, in association with the Government's Make In Vietnam program. We need more of this tripartite combination to solve many more problems of the country, especially big, fundamental problems to help Vietnam develop.

The path we have to go will be long, there will be many difficulties ahead, and it will be too soon to talk about success. But what we need to persevere in thinking big, solving the right problem, having clear business models, and a different approach. Other difficulties should only be considered as a test, as an opportunity for steeling ourselves.

I hope that Vietnamese digital technology companies will persevere in their goals for success! Success to inspire other Vietnamese technology firms to be involved in “Make In Vietnam”, creating Vietnamese technology products, and then going global.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung

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Vietnam is one of the pioneering countries in building a national digital transformation programme, with the three main pillars of digital government, digital economy, and digital society.