Since a chance meeting at a scientific conference in Hanoi in 1992, the relationship between the Radio and Electronics Association of Vietnam and the IEEE Communications Society has grown into an annual series of international conferences, a scientific journal awarded the highest possible rating by Vietnam’s State Professor Council, and a network of more than 800 members nationwide.
Mission and History of REV
The Radio and Electronics Association of Vietnam (REV) was formally established on 17 December 1988 under Decision No. 313 of the Council of Ministers. However, its activities trace back to 1965, when the Ministry of the Interior issued the document establishing its founding committee. Over the following 38 years, REV has held eight Congresses, led in succession by Hero of Labor Đă∙ng Văn Thân (1989–1994 and 1994–1999), Dr. Mai Liem Truc (1999–2004), Prof. Nguyen Van Ngo (2004–2009), Prof. Dr. Sc. Phan Anh (2009–2014), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Binh (2014–2018), and Dr. Tran Duc Lai (2018–2023 and 2023–2028). REV today brings together more than 800 members and 30 chapters based at universities and research institutes across Vietnam, working across three core fields: electronics, telecommunications, and information technology.
As a socio-professional organization, REV regularly contributes input on draft laws and decrees concerning the semiconductor industry, digital transformation, and the training of high-quality human resources. The Association runs two annual scientific conferences, the International Conference on Advanced Technologies for Communications (ATC) and the National Conference on Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (REV-ECIT), alongside its specialized English-language journal, REV-JEC.
Origins of the REV-IEEE Partnership
REV’s ties to the IEEE community began in November 1992, when Professor Vijay Bhargava, who later served as IEEE ComSoc President for 2012–2013, attended the REV’92 scientific conference in Hanoi. On the sidelines of the conference, Professors Nguyê˜n Văn Ngo∙, Nguyê˜n Đình Ngo∙c, and Phan Anh, together with Mr. Nguyê~n Quang A, a former IEEE ComSoc member, joined him for lunch and invited IEEE to take part in future REV conferences.
The next bridge came through Singapore. Dr. Teo Tat Khai, Northern Telecom’s representative for Asia and Chairman of the IEEE Computer Society Chapter in Singapore, introduced REV to the IEEE Asia-Pacific Office. In 1995, a senior IEEE delegation visited Vietnam, led by then IEEE President Professor James T. Cain, together with former IEEE President Professor H. Troy Nagle and IEEE Region 10 Director Professor Paul Y.S. Cheung. Minister of Science, Technology, and Environment Đă∙ng Hũʼu received the delegation.
During this visit, the two sides negotiated a memorandum of understanding, agreeing that any future agreements between REV and IEEE’s technical societies or sections would stand as supplements to this framework document. The memorandum was signed on 30 November 1996, with an initial term of three years subject to periodic renewal. From then on, the REV’96 and REV’98 conferences were attended by prominent figures from the international IEEE community, including Professor Tetsuya Miki of Japan and Professor Lin-shan Lee of Taiwan.
The REV-IEEE ComSoc Relationship
REV’s relationship with IEEE ComSoc specifically began even before a chapter was established in Vietnam. In March 1997, IEEE ComSoc President for 1996–1997 Stephen B. Weinstein visited REV on the occasion of the TELECOMP’97 Telecommunications and Computing Exhibition and Conference, meeting REV Chairman Đă∙ng Văn Thân. As the Vietnamese association law at the time did not permit branches of foreign societies, the two sides agreed that REV members would join ComSoc as individual members; ComSoc waived first-year dues for an initial list of 12 members nominated by REV.
On 1 January 1999, REV and IEEE ComSoc signed a dedicated cooperation agreement, a supplement to the IEEE-REV framework memorandum, focused on conference sponsorship, publication of papers in each other’s journals, and mutual promotion of publications. As a result, the 8th, 9th, and 10th REV conferences, held in 2002, 2004, and 2006, received technical sponsorship from IEEE ComSoc and Japan’s IEICE, giving them a markedly more international character.
In March 2007, IEEE ComSoc President Nim Cheung visited REV, and the two organizations agreed to launch an annual international conference. From 2008 onward, the International Conference on Advanced Technologies for Communications (ATC) was held alongside the REV conference at the same venue, under the shared name ATC/REV but with separate program committees and proceedings: ATC in English, featuring previously unpublished research; REV in both Vietnamese and English, summarizing achievements to inform policy recommendations. ATC proceedings are listed among IEEE ComSoc’s portfolio conferences and published on IEEE Xplore. That same year, on 30 October 2008, the IEEE ComSoc Vietnam Chapter was formally established by Dr. Trâ`n Xuân Nam, with the support of Professor Phan Anh.
Alongside the conference series, REV and IEEE ComSoc also co-publish the REV Journal on Electronics and Communications, Vietnam’s first English-language scholarly journal in electronics and communications, overseen by an International Advisory Board and a panel of reviewers jointly appointed by both organizations. In the 2025 list, the journal received the highest maximum score of 1.0 from Vietnam’s State Professor Council in both the interdisciplinary fields of Electrical-Electronics-Automation and Information Technology.
Since 2000, REV has regularly attended the annual meeting of IEEE ComSoc’s sister societies, held in cities around the world; Hanoi hosted the Asia-Pacific regional session in 2012, held concurrently with ATC/REV. To date, six IEEE ComSoc Presidents have visited REV: Stephen Weinstein, Celia Desmond, Nim Cheung, Doug Zuckerman, Byeong Gi Lee, and Vijay Bhargava.
Recent Highlights
In 2024, ATC was held in Ho Chi Minh City, hosted by the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology (PTIT), which selected 176 papers from 307 submissions. A year later, ATC 2025 returned to Hanoi, hosted by Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI), drawing 218 submissions from 214 institutions across 19 countries and selecting 117 papers, an acceptance rate of 53.7 percent. A special session on 5GA/6G technology alone drew 47 submissions, far exceeding the volume typically seen in other sessions, with only 22 selected for presentation.
The national REV-ECIT conference continued alongside ATC. Its 27th edition, hosted by Phenikaa University in late 2024, received 159 submissions and selected 128 for presentation; its 28th edition took place at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, in late 2025.
In addition to its two scientific conferences, REV launched the Vietnam Electronic Design Contest (VEDC) for students. Its inaugural edition, VEDC 2025, organized jointly with PTIT, drew more than 140 competing teams; the winning team, IDS PTIT, took first prize for an intrusion-detection system for IoT devices. The second edition, VEDC 2026, nearly doubled in scale, with 270 teams and more than 1,000 students from 61 institutions.
Goals and Future Plans
ATC 2026 will be hosted by Quy Nhon University, continuing the rotation among Vietnam’s northern, central, and southern regions that has been maintained since 2008. The year 2028 will mark the 20th anniversary of the conference series, a milestone that REV’s leadership regards as an opportune moment to elevate its relationship with IEEE ComSoc to a more strategic level. REV’s 2023-2028 Congress also set out plans to expand cooperation to the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society and the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society, while further strengthening the foundation of its existing relationship with IEEE ComSoc.
For REV, its partnership with IEEE and IEEE ComSoc extends well beyond any single conference or certificate of recognition. It is a foundation that helps Vietnamese researchers publish their work, access new knowledge, and connect with the international scientific community, in keeping with the spirit the two organizations have built together since their first meeting in 1992.
To know more, please check the contact information of the Radio and Electronics Association of Vietnam on the REV website (https://rev.org.vn)
