Over 20 years of development, Viet Nam’s internet has made sustainable contributions to society and Government policies have resulted in 60% of the population using the web, said Phan Tam, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications at the ongoing APRICOT 2017 conference in HCM City.

Students from Ha Noi Industrial College stream online videos. ​(Photo: VNA)

This is the first time APRICOT (Asia Pacific Regional Internet Conference on Operational Technologies), the leading internet forum in the Asia-Pacific region, is being held in Viet Nam.

It is co-organised by the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC), Asia Pacific Internet Association (APIA), Viet Nam Internet Network Information Centre (VNNIC) and the Viet Nam Internet Association (VIA) under the auspices of the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications (MIC).

The conference attracted about 700 delegates from more than 50 countries and territories gathering to share experience and transfer technology with the purpose of developing and operating internet infrastructure and consolidating cyber security in the Asia-Pacific region.

"The workshop is part of preparations for the fourth industrial revolution. I believe that with more than 700 guests at APRICOT 2017, this will be a useful opportunity for the experts, engineers and technical staff to discuss policies, standards and tools for the revolution. I believe we need a new breakthrough in the development, stability and security of the network to meet the requirements of an industrial revolution,” said the deputy minister.

In addition, to meet the increasing demand of the digital economy, Viet Nam has been gradually moving to IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) since 2008 in accordance with national plans on IPv6 transition for the period 2008 to 2020. Currently, more than six per cent of internet users in Viet Nam are using IPv6 and Viet Nam is among the countries with the highest rate of IPv6 usage in the region.

However, VNNIC Director Tran Minh Tan said that new IPv6 services have not been developed properly. “Besides Vietnamese internet content providers, social networks and e-paper also need to transfer to IPv6 synchronously to meet the demands of user connection in the future."

(Source: VNA)