In order to catch up with changes of the Industrial Revolution (ID) 4.0 and make it an opportunity to promote socio-economic development, Binh Duong needs to invest heavily in human resources, intellectual force... This is one of the topics highlighted by experts at the conference “The role of Binh Duong's intellectuals in the Industrial Revolution 4.0”, which has recently been organized by provincial Union of Science and Technology Associations in collaboration with Department of Science and Technology.
At Vinamilk Binh Duong, Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk) has boldly employed robots and self-propelled machines to control the whole process from raw materials used for packaging to finished products, giving optimum control of quality and cost minimization.
To identify opportunities and challenges
According to experts, ID 4.0 is penetrating and affecting activities in all fields of economy, politics, culture and social life in Vietnam. Dr. Nguyen Quoc Cuong, Director of Department of Science and Technology, said that the impact of ID 4.0 would bring many benefits for customers, for example, heightening quality of new products and services, such as booking taxi, flight, buying products, making payment… through the internet, smart devices without extra costs to customers...
In fact, in Binh Duong, Minh Long I Ceramics Company has applied 3D printing technology, employed robots to participate in production process. A number of leather and footwear enterprises in the province are also moving from traditional business to online export to optimize their operations, or carrying out e-commerce transactions... According to enterprises, the application of information and communication technology into commercial activities helps businesses save a lot of input costs such as time, human resources, transportation costs.
Talking about the opportunities and challenges for intellectuals in biotechnology in Binh Duong, Hoang Ngoc Cuong, a biotechnological specialist in Binh Duong University, said in Binh Duong province, technology and human resources were the two most important factors for developing endogenous growth models. Unlike other inputs (capital, human resource, land, natural resources) are always limited, these two factors could increase without being blocked by any ceiling.
Thus, this is also the key for countries to grasp the opportunity brought by ID 4.0, then revive the economy and escape the middle-income trap. With this meaning, Binh Duong needs to create a creative eco-environment, give priority to the fields of science, technology and technology in order to promote creativity; support universities with these specialties in the area; support the interconnection between universities and high-tech enterprises.
Mr. Cuong said that under the impact of ID 4.0, some simple tasks would be automated; thus human resources need to be trained for more complicated tasks. This is very difficult if training institutions and learners are not allowed to practice with modern technologies, while in the province there are more and more high-tech companies… Currently, technology is changing with a multiplier, so intellectual force should be fostered in terms of high-level cognitive skills, such as problem solving, logical reasoning, teamwork, and rapid adaptive skills. In particular, internet learning with open sources and online courses will rapidly update modern technologies. In addition, foreign language (English) skills should be given due attention in order for human resources to be ready to seize opportunities under the impact of the ID 4.0.
To enhance the role of intellectuals
After many implementation years of industrial development policy, Binh Duong has achieved many important achievements. Currently, in the new phase, the province set the target to become a smart city. To achieve this objective, Binh Duong has developed a detailed action program to develop four core elements of smart cities: people, technology, enterprises and technical infrastructure. Among these 4 factors, the human factor is the first and foremost for Binh Duong to catch up with changes of ID 4.0 and make it an opportunity to boost socio-economic development.
Obviously, developing a large and high-quality intellectual force must be the first priority, is the decisive factor for the success of Binh Duong in the new period. According to analysis of Dr. Nguyen Quoc Cuong, in every period of the development history of the world as well as our country, intellectuals are always the decisive force in knowledge creation and conveying, which is enormous in creating spiritual as well as material values for mankind. Therefore, the intelligentsia of Binh Duong needs to acquire and disseminate knowledge, because they have favorable conditions to receive the fastest, largest social information about ID 4.0. They are also the researchers and analysts to make predictions about development trends for the locality.
Besides, intellectuals should be at the pioneers in adapting to impacts of the 4.0 ID; then bring innovations of developed countries to their locality, including the development of smart city. In addition, intellectuals need to advise, suggest and criticize independently guidelines, policies and solutions to local problems. They must be directly involved and play an important role, affect the socio-economic development of the locality. They are also the creators of new values, quality products that not only serve the local market but also reach the global market.
"From these factors, Binh Duong needs to set up and enhance appropriate policies, enabling intellectuals to maximize their capabilities, making ID 4.0 an opportunity for all", said Dr. Cuong.
Reported by Thanh Hong – Translated by Ngoc Huynh
