Minister Nguyen Manh Hung: National governance with data and digital platforms

On the afternoon of October 13, at the press conference on the results of the First Government Party Committee Congress, term 2025-2030, Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung emphasized that industrialization, modernization, restructuring of the economy as well as renewing the growth model are always goals through terms. But each stage of development will have new motivations to achieve these goals.

The current stage is the "set of 3": science and technology, innovation and digital transformation, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung affirmed.

Given that this is a very unique approach of Vietnam, Vietnam's science and technology goes hand in hand with innovation and is placed in the context of digital transformation; science and technology provide knowledge and tools; innovation transforms knowledge into life service; digital transformation amplifies knowledge to be safe, fast, universal and connected. Digital transformation creates a new field, a new environment to help science, technology and innovation take place faster, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung emphasized.

Regarding solutions for science and technology, innovation and digital transformation to become the main driving force to strongly promote industrialization, modernization, restructuring the economy, and establishing a new growth model, Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung said that the Government has proposed a number of basic strategic solutions:

First, to create breakthroughs in institutions and financial mechanisms for scientific and technological development. Shifting from budget allocation to ordering, contracting according to results and management according to objectives, from checking invoices and documents to research results, shifting from input management to output management; effective research organizations that can commercialize research results will be allocated more funding, and vice versa.

Second, to develop high-quality human resources and digital talents. At this stage, knowledge, skills, and talent will be the center. The country will implement a program of one million digital skills, 100,000 high-tech engineers, 10,000 AI and semiconductor experts. There is a mechanism to employ Vietnamese experts on a global scale.

Along with talent development is to build an innovation nation, making innovation a lifestyle of all people and organizations. With the help of digital technology, we will come up with a one-person business model: Anyone can do business and create a business. Build a culture of innovation, encourage exploration and especially tolerance for failure.

Third, to build data infrastructure and digital platforms. Data and digital platforms are the new infrastructure of industrialization and modernization. This is also a new infrastructure to restructure the economy and establish a new growth model. Shift from investing heavily in technology infrastructure to data and analytics manpower.

Fourth, to build a research and development ecosystem with the nucleus is the link of "three stake-holders": The State, institutes, universities and enterprises. Implementing the State's order of strategic technologies (11 groups of strategic technologies already announced), ordering strategic products assigned to enterprises as general contractors, institutes and universities to participate in research with the orientation of transferring basic research to universities and technology research to enterprises.

Fifth, to build a comprehensive digital nation. After 5 years of launching digital transformation, the country has begun to enter the stage of building a comprehensive digital Vietnam, including digital government, digital economy and digital society, with digital citizens at the center. From digital transformation to AI transformation, from digitizing administrative processes to national governance with data and digital platforms.

According to Minister Nguyen Manh Hung, the Government will be a model of digital governance innovation. Each year, the State will announce a number of innovative and breakthrough digital government issues (from 50 to 100 issues) for domestic enterprises to develop, then the Government will implement results-based procurement to stimulate domestic demand, domestic technology demand.

"This is an arrow that hits 2 targets, both developing Vietnam's digital government and developing Vietnam's digital technology enterprises," Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung emphasized.

Translated by Vietnam Journal of Science and Technology (VJST - MOST).