Tech

Applications are open for the inaugural KMS Hackathon, a 30-hour programming competition. The contest, with the theme “30-hour hacking for social impacts”, aims to address current issues in various areas such as social life, security, public health, energy, environment, and transportation by applying advanced technologies, smart solutions, AI, and chatbots with natural language processing. It is open to programmers, software engineers, IT specialists, project leaders and managers building software products, and IT and computer science students. Participating teams will have to develop their products within 30 hours. The US$10,000 prize consists of cash and gifts. Besides, participants will have the opportunity to attract investments from funds and start-up incubators and mentoring from experts. The jury will include Phong Bui, KMS Technology’s deputy director of technology, Lam Quang Vu, deputy director of the HCM City University of Science’s IT faculty, Uy … [Read more...] about New programming competition opens

For customers who are using Vimo wallet via USSD, they need to download the Vimo application on a smartphone to continue using it. — Photo vneconomy.vn MobiFone has sent messages to its customers announcing that the operator stopped providing services with e-wallet Vimo from June 7. Vimo e-wallet is run by Vimo Technology Joint Stock Company. It is a mobile payment service for electricity, water, internet and telephone bills and money transfer. Representatives of Vimo e-wallet told Thanh Nien (Youth) newspaper that the deal had allowed MobiFone’s customers, who use feature phones, not smartphones, to use Vimo by using USSD code 234#. However, few MobiFone subscribers used the Vimo wallets. Therefore, to cut operating costs, the two sides decided to halt the service. For customers who do use Vimo wallet via USSD, they need to download the Vimo application on smartphones to continue accessing the service. Customers who use smartphones can continue to use the service without … [Read more...] about MobiFone stops providing Vimo e-wallet services

Solar cells are produced at a factory of IREX Energy joint-stock company in Viet Nam. The made-in-Viet Nam solar device will be exported to North Asia market in 2018. — Photo courtesy IREX IREX Energy joint-stock company, a member of SolarBK Holdings, plans to start exporting made-in-Viet Nam solar panels and equipment to North Asia in 2018. The company said launching a representative office in Nanjing, China, was an initial step to promote the Vietnamese renewable-energy branding in the global solar power market with a long-term co-operative relationship with foreign partners. In 2017, the Vung Tau City-based firm received orders to provide solar power cells, panels, installation, a smart monitoring system (Solar System Operation Centre) and guarantees for customers in North America. IREX solar cells with total capacity of 45MWp were exported to the US, the Netherlands, UK, Singapore, Turkey, Tunisia, Japan, Malaysia, China, Hungary and Poland in 2017. It’s expected that … [Read more...] about Made-in-Viet Nam solar power device to export to North Asia

Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said on Thursday. — VNA/VNS Photo The Law on Cyber Security conforms with the Constitution and does not hamper the implementation of international treaties to which Viet Nam is a party, Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said on Thursday. She made the remark at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ press conference in response to reporters’ questions about the recently adopted Law on Cyber Security. She said the law was approved on Tuesday with the majority of votes after many rounds of discussions which took into account the opinions of National Assembly deputies and the public in a widespread and transparent manner. Cyber security is an important issue that greatly affects national security, Hang said, noting that it has become of special concern for many countries and international and regional organisations in recent years. Attacks on the cyber environment have grown fast in both form and scale and … [Read more...] about VN cyber law keeps with treaties

The Ministry of Science and Technology launched the Techfest 2018 brand identity design competition on Wednesday. — VNS Photo The Ministry of Science and Technology launched the Techfest 2018 brand identity design competition on Wednesday. The Techfest 2018 will take place in the central city of Da Nang this November. This is an annual event under a project to support the national innovative start-up ecosystem by 2025. With the theme “Viet Nam - international connectivity", teams will have to go through three rounds. The designs are required to clearly express the topics of this year, stimulate start-up in the spirit of Vietnamese people and spread it to the world. Contestants will have the opportunity to win awards up to VND100 million (US$4,500), have a chance to learn and work with experts in the field as well as applying their design ideas to a bigger field on festival day. First organised in 2015, Techfest has become a prestigious brand, attracting the attention and … [Read more...] about Who has designs on the prize?

EMDDI, a ride-hailing model applied to transport businesses, will automatically connect to those companies in localities. — Photo baomoi.com The Ha Noi National University here on Tuesday launched EMDDI, a ride-hailing model applied to transport businesses. Dao Kien Quoc, former director of the Centre for Information and Technology Application, said at the launch ceremony EMDDI was the first app in Viet Nam designed to allow thousands of transport units operating in a system. Transport companies can independently configure their system through the app, such as establishing transport services for motorbike, automobile, taxi and goods delivery as well as for charging mechanism, route selection and promotion policies. Quoc said the app was different from Uber or Grab as it allowed transport firms to become ride-hailing developers within 10 minutes. The app can distinguish administrative boundaries to help customers choose the most suitable vehicle. EMDDI will automatically connect … [Read more...] about EMDDI ride-hailing app launched

FastGo Viet Nam Company Limited under the NextTech Group launched its ride-hailing service, “FastGo,” here on Tuesday after three years of development. This is the first ride-hailing app to offer insurance to customers for all trips, not charge drivers for discounted rates and provide driver partners with many benefits. Safety is assured on every ride with an insurance of up to VND200 million (US$8,700) through partner Fast Protection. The service will charge driver partners a maximum of VND30,000 per day and will organise supporting activities so that they can experience a professional working environment. FastGo has an operation mechanism similar to Grab. Smartphone users can download the Fastgo app from the Apple Store and Google Play Store. Speaking at the launch ceremony, Nguyen Huu Tuat, FastGo’s general director, said the service would be available in eight cities across Viet Nam in the next three years, with the aim of serving five million customers, mainly … [Read more...] about FastGo joins Viet Nam’s ride-hailing market

In the first phase, a 50MW solar plant will be built over 60ha of land on the southern side of Phuong Mai mountain in the Nhon Hoi economic zone. — Photo baodautu.vn The Chairman of the People’s Committee of the south central province of Binh Dinh on Tuesday approved a proposal for a solar power project in Phu My District. People’s Committee Chairman Ho Quoc Dung gave the green light to the VND1.44 trillion (US$63.36 million) project, which will be situated in Tra O lagoon in My Chau Commune. The project will be constructed thanks to an investment from the Viet Nam Renewable Energy JSC, and will be spread out over 60ha of water and 0.6ha of land. The plant, which has a design capacity of 50 MWp, is scheduled to be completed and become operational by the end of the second quarter of 2019. It is expected to contribute to the national grid by helping satisfy local demand for power and facilitating the development of industry and service, transforming the economic … [Read more...] about Binh Dinh approves US$63 million solar power project

As many as 72 per cent of Vietnamese fintech companies were opting to co-operate with local banks instead of competing, according to Le Anh Dung, director of the Payment Department under the State Bank of Viet Nam.— Photo dangcongsan.vn As many as 72 per cent of Vietnamese fintech companies were opting to co-operate with local banks instead of competing, according to Le Anh Dung, director of the Payment Department under the State Bank of Viet Nam. Dung told a conference on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and updates in the financial and banking sector held in Ha Noi on Tuesday that fintech and banks were co-operating to provide services and products to customers. Fintech, or financial technology, covers different sectors and applies new technology such as cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence and biometric systems. Dung said that the banking sector had been slow and lacked flexibility in terms of applying new technology, resulting in high transaction costs. … [Read more...] about Fintech firms offer banks cost-effective solutions

Viettel Group’s 10th international mobile phone network, Mytel, commenced operations in Myanmar on Saturday. Mytel, the fourth mobile phone operator in that country, has said it wants to become the biggest in the country in terms of both infrastructure and business. It is the only network with a customer service channel with video calling in Burmese, English and Shan, the language of the 6-million strong Shan people. Other networks only have Burmese and English. It already has in place more than 7,000 4G base transceiver stations (BTSs) and over 30,000km of fibre-optic cable that cover the entire nation, enabling it to provide a diverse range of services such as smart agriculture solutions (Nextfarm), traffic signal management system (Smart Light), an electronic wallet, route surveillance equipment and more. Nguyen Thanh Nam, general director of Mytel, said: “Our goal is to create an information super-highway with a nationwide 4G infrastructure which will enable Myanmar and … [Read more...] about Viettel launches its 10th international mobile phone service in Myanmar