Reviving Hue's heritage through digital technology.

With its vast and unique heritage system, Hue is facing a great opportunity to transform traditional cultural values into a sustainable growth engine through digital technology.

Báo Đại Đoàn Kết•30/05/2026

The "Magical Royal Palace" show attracts visitors during the holiday season. Photo: TTDT.

Transform advantage Heritage as a driving force for the digital economy .

Speaking at the Vietnam-Asia Digital Transformation High-Level Forum 2026, Dr. Phan Thanh Hai, Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Hue City, said: digital transformation is comprehensively changing the way heritage is preserved, managed, experienced, and exploited.

In the digital age, cultural heritage exists not only in traditional tangible or intangible forms but also as data resources, creative tools, and platforms for new cultural industries. From digitizing artifacts and reconstructing historical spaces to creating digital experiences, heritage is gaining a "new life" in the technological environment.

Hue currently boasts one of the richest heritage ecosystems in the country. However, the reality is that the exploitation of heritage is still primarily based on traditional tourism models. The added value from heritage remains low, a sufficiently strong content industry chain has not yet been formed, and the digital market has not been effectively exploited. For many years, the prevailing formula has been "heritage – tourism – revenue," while creative values and the digital economy have not been adequately promoted.

Therefore, technology is considered the key to unlocking a new direction for Hue. Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, virtual reality (VR/AR), 3D scanning, Digital Twin, blockchain, and GIS-IoT are creating the possibility of recreating, preserving, and disseminating heritage in a completely different way than before. Instead of only being able to experience it directly in a physical space, tourists can now visit the palace through virtual reality, explore artifacts through digital museums, or interact with multimedia products anytime, anywhere.

According to Dr. Phan Thanh Hai, the core value of digital heritage is not simply "putting heritage online," but rather creating a new value transformation chain: from heritage to data, data to knowledge, knowledge to creativity, then developing into products, and finally creating socio-economic value. In this way, heritage is not only preserved but also continues to "live," continuing to create value for the community and the economy.

In Hue, the reality shows that many cultural activities have begun to approach this direction. The Hue Four Seasons Festival and the night economy are gradually becoming "laboratories" for the digital cultural industry. Technologies such as light shows, mapping, interactive exhibitions, multimedia art, virtual reality experiences, and digital souvenirs are being incorporated into many festival activities. This helps increase the attractiveness of tourism, extend the length of stay, and expand access to culture for young people and international tourists.

Beyond the tourism sector, digital heritage can also drive many other creative industries such as film, design, video games, education, and digital media. As heritage data is expanded and interconnected, creative businesses can leverage it to create new products that reflect the unique identity of Hue but are also suitable for the modern market.

However, the digital transformation of heritage also presents many challenges. According to Dr. Phan Thanh Hai, the biggest risk is "superficial technologization," meaning chasing technological effects while losing cultural depth. In addition, there are conflicts between preservation and exploitation, a lack of appropriate financial mechanisms, and inconsistent inter-sectoral coordination.

Proposing four pillars of development.

Dr. Phan Thanh Hai, Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Hue City, believes that in order to develop digital heritage sustainably, Hue needs to build a development model based on four pillars: heritage data, digital technology, creative industry, and cultural market.

According to Dr. Phan Thanh Hai, the first step is to establish a complete and interconnected digitized heritage data system. This is considered the core foundation for preserving, managing, and exploiting heritage values in the digital environment. Data should not only serve as information storage but also become a "source of raw materials" for creating and developing new cultural products.

The second pillar is digital technology, encompassing technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, virtual reality (VR/AR), 3D scanning, Digital Twin, and blockchain. According to him, technology helps expand the scope of heritage, enabling the reconstruction of palaces, the construction of digital museums, the creation of interactive experiences, and the dissemination of cultural values beyond physical boundaries.

The third pillar is the development of creative industries. Dr. Phan Thanh Hai argues that heritage needs to be transformed into high-value-added cultural products such as films, design, video games, performing arts, digital souvenirs, or multimedia experiences. The Hue Four Seasons Festival and the night economy are considered testing grounds for these digital cultural industry models.

The final pillar is the cultural market and connectivity mechanisms. According to Dr. Phan Thanh Hai, digital heritage only truly creates growth momentum when connected to businesses, tourism, the creative market, and the public's experiential needs. Forming an ecosystem linking the state, technology companies, artisans, cultural experts, and the creative community will help digital cultural products become commercially viable and develop sustainably.

Dr. Phan Thanh Hai emphasized that these four pillars must be developed synchronously, with preservation remaining the fundamental principle. Technology cannot replace culture; instead, it should deepen cultural values, helping Hue both preserve its identity and create new growth drivers from its heritage.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/danh-thuc-di-san-bang-cong-nghe-so.html