He attended the Vietnam Artificial Intelligence Festival (AI4VN 2023), where he gave a presentation about the Government AI Readiness Index in 2022.

The index, designed by Oxford Insights, depends on three factors: the government’s vision about AI; the technologies being applied; and the level of providing the capability of accessing database for AI.

If considering the three criteria, Vietnam now ranks 55th among the 180 surveyed countries. Vietnam’s Government AI Readiness Index is 53.96 points, higher than the average level in the world (44.61), with which Vietnam ranks sixth in Southeast Asia. The US tops the rankings, followed by Singapore in second place.

According to Pablo Fuentes Nettel, Vietnam has a dynamic economy, and young population which can quickly grasp new technologies, which are great advantages for AI development. Moreover, in terms of technology, Vietnam is respected in Southeast Asia with two unicorn tech firms. 

He said the most important factor for Vietnam to gain the ranking and have great advantages to develop AI is the government’s support. Vietnam is one of 60 countries which have a national strategy on AI development.

Nevertheless, he commented that there are still many things Vietnam needs to do to promote AI technology development, especially investment in research and develop (R&D). Vietnam’s investment in R&D in technology just accounts for 0.5 percent of GDP. 

Vietnam should shift to 5G soon and improve its data infrastructure as well as access to data for AI, because these indicators are still below the world’s average level.

Regarding the AI development strategy, Huynh Thanh Dat, Minister of Science and Technology, said the PM in January 2021 issued a decision on the national strategy on AI research, development and application to 2030.

Under the strategy, Vietnam will accelerate research, development and application of AI, contributing to socio-economic development, and gradually developing Vietnam into a bright spot in AI research, development and application in the region and the world.

Dat said over the last two years of implementing the AI development strategy, Vietnam gained initial encouraging results, which have been reflected in the Government AI Readiness Index announced by Oxford Insights.

At AI4VN, the UK, US and South Korea all affirmed that they are willing to cooperate with Vietnam and support its AI development plan.

Trong Dat