The Promising Future of Artificial Intelligence in Vietnam

Is Vietnam Ready for AI Development Yet?

As indicated in the 2019 report by the Ministry of Information and Communication, Vietnam was home to more than 30,000 ICT companies of different sizes, approximately 955,000 IT workers, and over 80,000 university and college graduates with majors in information and communications technology. In addition, Vietnam has soon risen to become the new IT hub in Southeast Asia and also one of the preferred destinations for IT outsourcing services on earth. With such an open business environment and abundant labor force, the applications of AI in various sectors within the country has made significant progress.

However, when it comes to AI development, Vietnam is reckoned to have a low starting point. Compared to the U.S. – the current global leader in AI – or other countries in the Western, the AI industry in Vietnam is still in the early days.

In spite of the fact that Vietnam has lagged behind in the race for AI, it is worth noting that this Southeast Asian country is making huge digital transformation efforts to catch up and gain an edge over competitors.

The International Development Research Centre in Canada and the UK’s Oxford Insights jointly released an annual report (IDRC) in which Vietnam was ranked 6th in ASEAN and 62nd in the world for the 2021 Government Artificial Intelligence Readiness Score. Surprisingly, this is the first time Vietnam’s AI Readiness Score reached 51.82 out of 100, which surpasses the global average of 47.72 and helps this country climb 14 places compared to last year.

The readiness of a country or territory toward AI technology is evaluated through three pillars – the government, technology, and data infrastructure.

The Government Pillar

Vietnam soon recognized the true potential of artificial intelligence, both now and in the future, as well as its expanding role in the fourth industrial revolution. Therefore, the Vietnamese government has been investing heavily in AI as well as other cutting-edge digital technologies, such as machine learning, blockchain, big data analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud computing. Numerous national AI policies and initiatives have been established to encourage Vietnamese companies and innovative start-ups to advance AI research, development, and usage in new business models.

Notably, the country recently approved the National Digital Transformation Programme by 2025, with an orientation toward 2030. The tangible ambition behind this is to double the growth of the digital economy by 2025 and lay a solid foundation for further digital transformation processes that will steadily prepare Vietnam for AI in the future. Vietnam’s improvement in its AI Readiness Score, according to the nation’s deputy head of the Ministry of Science and Technology, was attributed to the country’s active involvement in technology-based activities and the issuance of the national strategy for AI development.

The Technology Pillar

The technology pillar refers to the internal digital capabilities, simply known as the technology sector, of a country or territory. A nation empowered by a dynamic and competitive tech sector will be sufficient in resources and expertise to effectively adopt, develop and use AI technology for different areas, together making a complete national AI ecosystem.

At this point, the Minister of Planning and Investment of Vietnam stated that the ministry had built up a digital ecosystem for innovation and new technologies and proposed a national innovation center to support technological breakthroughs and facilitate the creative ideas of Vietnamese entrepreneurs.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment would incorporate with the Ministry of Science and Technology to companion the AI communities in Vietnam on the venture to studying and developing this digital technology. In addition, it was affirmed that the ministry had prepared all the favorable conditions to appeal to domestic and international investment in Vietnam’s AI development. Particularly, at the Vietnam Venture Summit in June 2019, there were 18 local and foreign funds committed to investing a total of $425 million in Vietnamese start-ups in the next three years.

The Data & Infrastructure Pillar

The data and infrastructure pillar are measured by the availability of reliable data and secure digital infrastructure that can power AI technologies. In comparison with other giants in the AI industry, Vietnam’s data and computing infrastructure are relatively primitive with a lot of limitations, typically mentioned fragmented and poor-quality data. This poses a huge challenge in the venture to nationalize AI technology in Vietnam. Thus, the country has placed a premium on building, maintaining, and developing data infrastructure, in the long run, to accelerate the economic development of AI technology and facilitate the efficiency and effectiveness of AI research development and application simultaneously. The investments were rewarded in kind as Vietnam’s AI readiness score for data infrastructure hit 51.87, which is a big stride in Vietnam’s venture into full-scale AI adoption in the near future.