On September 23, 2021, the Vietnamese government released a national strategy on artificial intelligence research, development, and application until 2030, with the aim of making Vietnam a hub for innovation and AI within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the world. The announcement comes after its second place in ASEAN in AI patent applications and six months after the launch of its international AI research centerin collaboration with NAVER Group.
Vietnamese government strategy dedicated to AI research, development and applications
The Vietnamese government’s proposed strategy aims to make Vietnam a true AI hub by placing it among the top four countries in ASEAN and in the top 50 countries in the world in AI research, development and application. To achieve this, ten AI brands will be established and three national centres dedicated to big data and high performance computing (HPC) will be designed.
In its strategy, Vietnam focuses on improving legal documents related to artificial intelligence, developing an AI ecosystem and applications, and promoting its international cooperation in this field. Hanoi University of Science and Technology, in collaboration with NAVER, had officially launched an International AI Research Centre in April this year. Thus, the country hopes that links between units specialising in this field inside and outside Vietnam will be promoted.
Meanwhile, construction of the National Innovation Centre (NIC) has begun in Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park, not far from Hanoi in Thach That District. It aims to support and develop Vietnam’s start-up and innovation ecosystem, contributing to the renewal of the growth model based on technological and scientific development.
Patents: Vietnam ranks second in ASEAN
With 372 patent applications, Vietnam ranks second in ASEAN, according to the Vietnam-Australia AI Cooperation Network. Moreover, the number of international papers related to Vietnam’s AI, especially in prestigious journals, has been steadily increasing since 1996. Over the past 25 years, Vietnam’s scientific publications on Web of Science and Scopus databases have ranked 5th among 10 ASEAN member countries. For comparison, when in 2010, Vietnam had 134 publications on AI, in 2017 and 2018, the country had more than 520, for a total of nearly 2,500 over the 2010-2018 period.
In terms of employment, in 2019, 970,000 people were employed in Vietnam’s information and communication technology (ICT) industry, including 180,000 in everything from software to digital content. In addition, 1,600 Vietnamese researchers specialize in AI, both within the country and abroad. The country has about 50 universities that train directly or indirectly in AI.
Under the AI strategy presented by Vietnam, by 2030, Vietnam will have to surpass the symbolic mark of one million employees in ICT in order to achieve its goals. One of the missions the country has set for itself will be to attract around 100 companies to boost attractiveness in the sector.
Translated from Vietnam : le pays ambitionne d’être dans le top 4 ASEAN et dans le top 50 mondial d’ici 2030 en matière d’IA
