Le Doan Hop and translator speak to SJSU and San Jose officials

Vietnam's Minister of Information and Communications Le Doan Hop (right) speaks to SJSU and city officials through a translator. Photo by Elena Polanco.

By Pat Lopes Harris, Media Relations Director

Vietnam’s Minister of Information and Communications Le Doan Hop visited SJSU June 10, one stop on a mission that will take him to colleges and corporations throughout the region.

Traveling with a delegation of several dozen Vietnamese government and business leaders, Le is seeking to learn more about information and communications technologies, with the ultimate goal of doubling the number of Vietnamese workers in related industries by 2020.

He came to the right place. Joe Hedges, representing the city of San Jose’s International Programs, explained San Jose’s population boomed from 100,000 to almost one million residents on the strength of the tech industry.

Given Le’s stated interest in workforce development, College of Business Dean David Steele provided an overview of California’s higher education system and International and Extended Studies Associate Vice President and Dean Mark Novak discussed SJSU’s International Leadership Program.

The event was hosted by Professor of Management Information Systems Professor Stephen Kwan, who along with Industrial and Systems Engineering Professor Louis Freund discussed SJSU’s new Service Science, Management and Engineering Program.

These classes teach students to apply engineering techniques in areas such as quality control to complex systems within various service sector industries including health care and aviation. IBM put Le in touch with Kwan based on the professor’s work with the company on service science.