Hanoi (VNA) - Facing the rapid development of the fourth Industrial Revolution and the fierce competition between press agencies andbetween the press and social media, the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) has continued toinnovate itself towards improving the quality, professionalism, and effectiveness,and well perform its duties as a reliable strategic information agency of theParty and State, VNA General Director Vu Viet Trang has said.

On September 15, 1945, the VNA officially aired thefull text of the Declaration of Independence with the list of members of theProvisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the SocialistRepublic of Vietnam, in Vietnamese, French and English languages.

That sacred moment has been boldly imprinted in thecountry's information history, marking the birth of the first news agency ofVietnam.

During the 78 years of accompanying the country, the VNA, honoured to be named by President Ho Chi Minh, has continuouslygrown, becoming a reputable news agency in the region following the model of a strongand modern national multimedia complex with all types of information.

As one of the country's major press agencies, the VNA haspaid due attention to applying technologies in its operations. From late 1984 toearly 1985, a group of five engineers from the VNA's microprocessor groupsuccessfully developed the first 8-bit computer, which was able to processVietnamese language in basic stages such as: typing, displaying, printing ondot matrix printers, managing and transmitting documents in Vietnamese language.

On August 1, 1985, the agency’s high-speed electronic information transmissionline (microcomputer) between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City was officially launched,becoming the main information flow on the North - South route of the VNA. Thisevent made Vietnamese one of the languages processed directly on computers. Thefact that the VNA was awarded the Gold Medal at the second national science andtechnology fair in September 1985 marked a remarkable progress in the agency'stechnical infrastructure.

In 1998, as soon as Vietnam gained access to the Internet, theVNA made debut its information websites and Vietnam News newspaper, which were thefirst information websites in Vietnam.

The VNA currently operates under the model of multimedia complex with15 news units for domestic and foreign services, along with five news supporting centres, a publishing house, two printing companies, the VNA representativeoffice in the South, the VNA representative office in the Central – CentralHighlands region; and functional units.

With more than 60 media products, it now is the press agencywith the largest number of information products and forms in the country, fromsource news in the forms of text, photo, television, infographics and audio topublications such as dailies, weeklies, magazines, pictorials, books,e-newspapers, websites, online and print newspapers, and information on mobileplatforms and social networks, among others.

The VNA has performed the functions of a national newsagency providing updated news about all social aspects in Vietnam and the worldfor domestic and foreign media. It has also satisfied the public’s informationdemand through diverse and attractive media products on modern platforms. TheVNA has retained its position as the mainstream information source guidingpublic opinion and as the strategic and trustworthy information centre of theParty and State, contributing to national development and defence.

Amidst the strong development of the fourth industrialrevolution, digital transformation has created conditions for the news agency tograsp the public's information needs more quickly through applications anddirect interactive features. Entering the age of 78, in 2023, the VNA haslaunched new technology products such as: multilingual automatic readingapp, and text and photo information product packages with integrated videos.

Nguyen Duc Vu, Director of the VNA Technical Centre, saidthat in order to concretise the agency's development strategy, the applicationof technologies, especially artificial intelligence, for audio and videoinformation has been promoted. The VNA has built its own multilingual automatic reading system with six languages and will gradually integrate it into allinformation distribution channels such as newspapers, electronic informationpages, and mobile apps.

New platforms such as a smart speaker and a smart screenwill soon be carried out with the aim of creating a new way of accessinginformation for readers through voice interaction, he added./.