OREANDA-NEWS. Hitachi, Ltd. announced that the major Vietnam-based IT company FPT Software Co., Ltd. ("FPT Software") has recently commercialized Eduprove, an academic affairs information system for Vietnamese universities based on UNIPROVE/AS, a product that Hitachi Ltd. provides to Japanese universities. FPT Software will start local sales of Eduprove from July, backed by Hitachi's technical support. Both companies plan to combine their expertise through the sale of Eduprove to contribute to the advancement of the university education environment in Vietnam.

Hitachi and FPT Software sought to develop UNIPROVE/AS for Vietnamese universities based on a strategic partnership agreement they made in April 2012. UNIPROVE/AS is a comprehensive university management support system provided by Hitachi to Japanese universities. It provides information management for students from entry to graduation and administrative support for teaching staff.

Together, the two companies localized the program into Vietnamese and changed the specifications in accordance with the Vietnamese university system to develop Eduprove. Furthermore, the companies installed Eduprove on a trial basis at FPT University, which was established by FPT Software parent company FPT Corporation. The companies made improvements to Eduprove based on feedback mainly from students and teaching staff, and FPT Software has now commercialized it.

Vietnam has established a goal of becoming an industrialized nation by 2020. It has implemented national education policies aimed at developing human resources suitable for industrialization and the university entrance rate has increased significantly. Moreover, from a demographic viewpoint, student numbers are projected to increase going forward, since people aged 20 or under account for approximately 35% of Vietnam's population. Vietnam is responding to these trends by establishing new universities or expanding on existing institutions. On the other hand, establishment of information systems for administrative efficiency and management support has become an issue, and demand for the information systems for universities is expected to increase.

FPT Software will promote sales of Eduprove backed by Hitachi's technical support, and has already moved forward with the full-fledged implementation of the system at FPT University. FPT Software will reinforce its sales structure and actively expand its sales channel by cultivating potential sales partners, while working to improve and advance the Vietnamese university education environment.

Hitachi will continue to work through its alliance with FPT Software to bolster development of Hitachi's information system solutions for universities in Vietnam.