Human Resource Development for Digital Transformation in Vietnam: A Need for Reconceptualizing Digital Skills and Competence

Abstract

Digital transformation (DT) has recently been a key national agenda of many countries, including Vietnam. A significant driver for the change is the government’s digital-ready legislation and sustainable human resource (HR) development. A digitally competent workforce is essential to the transformation as it determines the level of digital adoption and ensures the functioning of digital tools and processes in various fields. However, the extent to which the HR development of digital competence is emphasized in Vietnam’s policy documents remains unanswered. This paper presents findings based on the document analysis of the Prime Minister’s Decision 146 (2022) on enhancing DT awareness and skills of Vietnamese human resources (HRs). Our findings reveal that the Policy was developed based on three core beliefs: raising awareness is a prerequisite, universalizing digital skills is the key to an inclusive digital society, and HR development is imperative to foster DT progress. Despite possessing some strengths, the Policy fails to provide a thorough conceptualization of digital competence, which potentially causes difficulties and inconsistencies during policy implementation. When digital skills are mentioned, they are mostly associated with the basic ability to use digital tools, participate in the digital process, or utilize digital data for decision making. Thus, this paper calls for a reconceptualization of digital skills and competence that are potentially more effective for DT in different contexts. Such a reconceptualization is expected to promote clarity and consistency in DT policymaking and implementation at various levels of governance in Vietnam. Keywords: Digital transformation, digital skills, digital competence, human resource development, human resource management, policy analysis.