Outstanding solutions at the ASEAN Digital Awards 2026

The ASEAN Digital Awards 2026 (ADA 2026) concluded with a list of winning products spanning many fields. However, a closer look at the two most rigorously judged categories, Public Sector and Digital Innovation, reveals that the common thread among the winning products lies not in their novel ideas, but in their practical implementation and clear social impact.

Public sector: digitizing the pillars of social security and infrastructure.

The Gold Award in the Public Sector category was given to the Digital Social Protection Platform (DSPP) developed by the Secretariat of the National Social Security Council of Cambodia. This is a national digital platform aimed at consolidating and managing social protection programs, from cash subsidies and support for the poor, the elderly, and people with disabilities to health insurance.

The DSPP allows citizens to register and verify once, with data interconnected across ministries, sectors, and social security programs, thereby reducing duplicate records, shortening processing times, and enhancing transparency in the allocation of social resources. This platform has been implemented in Cambodia as part of its social security digitalization strategy for the period 2024-2028, gradually replacing previous manual processes.

The Silver Award in the Public Sector category went to Holomedicine (Mixed-Reality) for Clinical Use by the National University Health System (NUHS), Singapore.

The Silver Award went to Holomedicine (Mixed-Reality) for Clinical Use from National University Health System (NUHS), Singapore. This is a medical solution that applies mixed reality technology, allowing doctors to use MR glasses to observe 3D models of the patient's body reconstructed from CT and MRI data directly in a clinical environment.

Holomedicine is being implemented at NUHS to support surgical procedures, treatment planning, and medical training. This technology helps doctors reduce the need to switch their gaze between the patient and a 2D screen, while also improving accuracy in complex procedures.

The fact that an MR solution has been put into practical clinical application demonstrates that ADA's criteria go beyond technology demonstrations, focusing instead on usability in the public health environment.

The Bronze award in this category went to Vietnam's ELCOM ITS intelligent transportation ecosystem. Unlike experimental solutions, ELCOM ITS is a combination of systems already deployed on numerous roads and traffic control centers nationwide, including AI cameras, automated toll collection systems, and automated weighing systems. This solution directly supports traffic management, reduces congestion, and increases transparency in infrastructure operation.

In the Digital Innovation category, the Gold Award was given to VCB Tablet from Vietcombank . This is a solution that digitizes banking operations at and outside of transaction points, allowing bank staff to perform many tasks directly on mobile devices, from customer identification and electronic signatures to completing service applications.

VCB Tablet has been widely deployed within the Vietcombank system and serves FDI customers in many markets across the region. The fact that this solution won the Gold Award demonstrates that innovation, as assessed by the ASEAN Digital Awards, is not just about new technology, but about the ability to transform the model of essential service delivery.

Technology must solve real-world problems.

Looking at the top three winning products in the Public Sector category and the leading product in the Innovation category, it's clear that the common criteria are that they have been deployed, are operational, and are creating measurable value. These platforms are all linked to core sectors of society such as social security, healthcare, transportation, and finance, where the demands for stability, security, and scalability are particularly high.

The ADA 2026 awards list clearly reflects ASEAN's digital transformation trend, shifting from the testing phase to the practical application phase, where technology is judged by its operational efficiency and social impact.

Center for Science and Technology Communication

Source: https://mst.gov.vn/nhung-giai-phap-tieu-bieu-tai-giai-thuong-so-asean-2026-197260210124803808.htm