RMIT students present at major regional event

On 6 November a team of RMIT Vietnam and RMIT Australia MBA and EMBA students presented at the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Connectivity Working Group held in Da Nang.

The team conducted research on digital entrepreneurship and digital transformations within Asia-Pacific to answer the question: What support do digital start-ups need in the region? The core research group included Angie Glance, who is on sabbatical from the Australian government, Hoang Le and Alakshendra Swarup, from RMIT Australia, along with Deon Leng and Nguyen Dang Phuong Tram, who are at RMIT Vietnam.

ABAC was part of the run-up to the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week summit held last week in Da Nang. Ms Glance, Mr Le, Ms Nguyen and Mr Leng delivered a presentation on the result of their research, a report titled Digital Entrepreneurship Across APEC, to delegates from the 21 members of APEC.

These delegates would in turn provide recommendations based on this and other presentations to their respective leaders. This was the first time a group from RMIT Vietnam participated in ABAC.

According to Mr Leng, the team studied their report’s topic through four main components: ICT infrastructure; skills and education in building digital preparedness; government policy and regulation; and financial aspects relevant to digital start-ups.

“We interviewed government officials, educators, entrepreneurs and more during the research process,” Mr Leng shared. “Work on the report began in July.”



Meanwhile Ms Glance stressed the significance of RMIT’s participation in ABAC. “This is an exciting opportunity for all of those involved, but also for the University itself,” she said. “RMIT will be on the world stage, and an invitation to produce work on behalf of the region’s premier economic forum, where business and government converge, is proof of RMIT’s versatility as an institution.”

After the event, Mr Leng said their presentation on the importance of facilitating digital entrepreneurs through favourable policies and strong education went well. “We are pleased that the work has been well-received, and hopefully future works can build upon the findings we put to APEC this year,” he shared.

“We were really happy and excited to hear that there will be a new working group for Digital Economy next year,” Mr Leng added. “It made us feel like we were at a critical turning point and we contributed to such change.”

Story: Michael Tatarski