On the morning of July 11, the report “Overview of IT in Vietnam 2006” was officially introduced at the opening seminar of the Vietnam Computer Electronics World Expo 2006. The most notable point of this report is that most of Vietnam’s IT indicators have dropped compared to the previous year. Thus, Vietnam’s position on the global IT map has not improved, despite the efforts made by the government, associations, and businesses in the IT sector.
Decline in Readiness Levels
Leading the decline this year is the connectivity readiness index, which has fallen by 7 levels. This index reflects the level of preparedness of a country or community to participate in and benefit from IT developments, based on three factors: the coordination environment and macroeconomic conditions for IT, the readiness of individuals, businesses, and the government to use and benefit from IT, and the level of IT usage. In the announcement from the World Economic Forum (WEF), Vietnam’s connectivity readiness index in 2006 ranked 75th out of 115 countries and territories assessed. In 2005, Vietnam was ranked 68th out of 104.
Another index that declined by 5 levels is the e-readiness index. Evaluated based on criteria such as technology infrastructure, business environment, acceptance of e-commerce by businesses and individuals, and legal policy environment, although this year, Vietnam’s e-readiness score increased (3.12 points compared to 3.06 points in 2005), its ranking decreased by 5 positions from 61st out of 65 in 2005 to 66th out of 68.
Another index that also dropped in this year’s report is the Information Society index, which fell 1 position compared to last year and is now at the bottom of the table. While Singapore made a remarkable leap from 13th to 3rd place, Vietnam continued to lose points in all criteria such as computer infrastructure, Internet infrastructure, telecommunications infrastructure, and social infrastructure.
Software Copyright Violations: Still at the Top of the List
According to the most recent report (May 2006) on global software copyright violations in 2005, Vietnam’s violation rate is at 90%. Although this is a 2% decrease from 2004, Vietnam still holds the highest software copyright violation rate in the world.
However, compared to the figures from the previous report, both the rate (from 92% to 90%) and the value of violations have decreased, reflecting the effectiveness of the Vietnamese government’s efforts in this area. When calculated per capita, the average in Asia is 4 times higher than Vietnam, and the global average is 10 times higher. In 2005, the per capita violation rate in Vietnam was $0.5 per person, while in Asia, it was $2 per person and $5 per person globally.
Due to the relatively small size of Vietnam’s software market, despite being at the top in violation rates, the value of violations in 2005 was only about $38 million, while the United States has the lowest software copyright violation rate (21%) but a staggering violation value of $6.9 billion.
