To Completely Change and Start the 4th Industrial Revolution

With the introduction of computers in the mid-20th century, which we now call the 3rd Industrial Revolution, nations raced for the development of technology in the following decades. Computers have since become better, more efficient, and have fit in the palm of our hands. This means more and more information can be stored in less and less space. In recent decades corporations have been taking advantage of this advancement to perform their activities and log their data digitally. In Vietnam, the trend has only begun to take off recently, and vigorously and quickly so.

Companies, domestic and foreign, have been utilizing and pioneering in this revolution and have reaped their successes, but while the path is clear, the country has a long way to go to fully change, and take on the 4th Industrial Revolution.

For the majority of Vietnam’s history, agriculture has been, and still is a dominant force in the economy. Most people stayed in rural areas and farmed wheat, rice, corn, kudzu, among other staples, as well as cattle - namely cows, buffaloes, and swine.

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These helped not only to feed the people but some were also valuable and exported, like rice, coffee, sugar and cotton. Most of the land area was used for farming, whereas to the Americas and Europe, industrial processes started earlier; by the time Britain had been teeming with railways, Vietnam was starting to be influenced by Western culture and industry through French occupation. This, combined with the relatively new introduction of communications technology in the country, as recent as the 1990s, make the transition into the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) more difficult for Vietnam.

One more consideration to take into account is that even with the experience needed to bring automation and digitalization to production lines, the work done by machines will displace that done by workers. Currently, 56% to 72% of jobs in Southeast Asia are vulnerable for such displacement, warns the International Labor Organization. As the 15th most populous country in the world, Vietnam has an abundance of workforce. But as the 4IR approaches, the need for more talented and experienced workers, who can adapt to the change and preside over technology, will be considerably higher than those who are skilled at craft and handiwork, namely professions like drivers, cashiers, farmers, assembly workers, and many more. Soon enough, all manual work will be replaced by automation, and the surplus of employment will cause a recession in the country and as the population ages, the workforce will be slowly diminished.

On the other hand, with such a quickly growing economy, there should be no doubt that Vietnam can catch on this revolution quickly. It also means that, with the right help from investors (which is what the country intends to recruit, it could benefit enormously; taking less and less effort to integrate the 4IR and greatly benefiting the economy by introducing more jobs, which it will need to solve the employment crisis. Also, the amount of students overseas is continually increasing as more are seeking higher education required for future employment, and while the majority of manual work is dying out, the number of intellectual workers in Vietnam is steadily increasing - with 50% of Vietnamese students pursuing business in the US, a profession that provisionally cannot be replaced by machines.

In conclusion, the outlook for Vietnam is a challenging one, but with the right efforts and methods, it will be worth all the time and work of the people and the state. Every nation faces its own unique set of problems, and with its own merits they find a way out. We should also be ready to do so on our own terms, since it is our responsibility to. In the words of President John F. Kennedy: “Ask not what the country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.”