Strategic Technology Development: Don't Rely on Market Trends or "Fashionable" Names

Experts say that the choice of technology should not be based solely on market trends or "trendy" names, but must be placed in the practical context of where Vietnam is in the global industrial chain, what it can master, what it can contribute, and what position is appropriate.

The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) has developed a program for six strategic technology products, including: Large language models and virtual assistants; AI cameras; autonomous mobile robots; 5G; Blockchain and traceability applications, crypto assets, and UAV drones.

Mr. Hoang Anh Tu, Deputy Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Engineering, said that after approval, the Ministry of Science and Technology can immediately start implementing the project. However, Mr. Tu also shared some problems encountered when implementing strategic technology products.

Mr. Hoang Anh Tu, Deputy Director of Department of Science, Technology and Engineering ( Ministry of Science and Technology ).

Accordingly, many host units, scientists and businesses mentioned the urgency of technology development, but did not make specific proposals, or they wanted policy changes but did not suggest what policies, causing difficulties in coordination.

Faced with that situation, Mr. Tu said that it is necessary to establish a working group to go to ministries and branches to find topics and find technology products that need to be made and deployed.

Strategic technology development: Don't be too hasty in mastering too many technologies, it needs to be put in a realistic context.

Sharing with PV Dan Viet, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quoc Sy - Director of VinIT Institute of Technology emphasized that, before determining which technology to invest in, we must build a management system to orient the synchronous strategic development of science and technology.

"The choice of technology should not be based solely on market trends or "trendy" names like AI or semiconductors, but must be placed in the practical context of where Vietnam is in the global industrial chain, what it can master, what it can contribute, and what position is appropriate," said Professor Quoc Sy.

According to the Director of VinIT Institute of Technology, Vietnam cannot and does not need to invest in the entire high-tech value chain, but needs to find the most suitable steps to "enter" the global supply chain. Lessons from participating in the packaging and testing of microchips clearly show that we have potential but are still weak in motivation, orientation and synchronization.

Thanks to venture capital funds, will private capital "flow strongly" into Vietnam's strategic technology?

In AI, Vietnam can completely develop some practical and quite suitable fields such as: Light industrial robots, agricultural robots. AI applications in factory automation, smart transportation, smart tourism. AI systems for resource, environment, and urban management.

Meanwhile, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Ai Viet - former Director of the Institute of Information Technology (Hanoi National University), Director of the IGNITE Institute, investment in R&D (research and development) is the important story because just buying machines and building laboratories is not enough.

"A deep analysis of Vietnam's current R&D investment/GDP ratio is only about 0.4% - much lower than the 2% threshold to create a technological breakthrough," Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Ai Viet said.

The solution, according to Associate Professor Ai Viet, is to promote "technology diplomacy", encourage businesses to invest heavily in R&D, apply a "matching fund" policy (the state pays a part, businesses pay a part), and most importantly, build a financial statistics system and funding mechanism in line with international standards.

According to the World Bank's most recent calculations in 2021, the world's R&D spending in 2021 was 2.62% of GDP, more than 5 times that of Vietnam.

For countries, R&D plays an important role in promoting long-term GDP growth. Countries that maintain significant spending on R&D are able to develop advanced technologies, forming high-value-added industries, with two typical examples being South Korea and "startup nation" Israel.

Therefore, according to experts, instead of being impatient to master too many technologies in a short time, we should focus on 1-2 strategic priority technologies first. If we master the technology, but produce products that are not cheap enough, it will be almost impossible to sell to other countries, and there will be no competitive advantage.

For example, Korea develops chips, sells chips, and then reinvests the money in R&D. If we can master it but our products are more expensive and our technology is more outdated, when we run out of capital, who will we sell to and what will we reinvest in R&D?

Regarding R&D in the semiconductor field alone, Mr. Vo Duc Thang, representative of the Vietnamese Innovation and Expert Network in Taiwan (China), said that more than 40,000 Vietnamese students are studying in Taiwan, half of whom are studying high-tech engineering. The Intense International Industrial Talent Education Program has trained more than 200 students and plans to open 880 more STEM-semiconductor scholarships by 2026.

According to Mr. Thang, training models associated with businesses, cooperation offices in many localities and support ecosystems are creating an important foundation for Vietnam to develop a team of high-quality semiconductor engineers.

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) model of CT Group Corporation.

At the meeting with the Innovation Network and Vietnamese experts on the development of strategic technology industries on November 26, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung affirmed that the key task in the coming time is to effectively and substantially implement the issued policies and guidelines, aiming to synchronously and sustainably develop the innovation ecosystem of strategic technology industries.

To develop these strategic technology industries, the Deputy Prime Minister said that our country must have a comprehensive strategy to master core technology; develop high-quality human resources; build technology infrastructure, shared laboratory systems; promote innovation and form a comprehensive ecosystem for technology industries, in which the leading role of the State is to decide the success and connect the three parties (State, enterprises, institutes and schools).

Frankly pointing out a number of major challenges, the Deputy Prime Minister analyzed the role of strategic technology industries at some levels and sectors that are still inadequate; lack of high-quality human resources; huge capital needs for R&D, digital infrastructure, laboratories and pilot production; lack of physical spaces and policies for testing new technologies; and gaps in standards, intellectual property, cybersecurity and global supply chain requirements.

According to Dan Viet

Source: https://mst.gov.vn/phat-trien-cong-nghe-chien-luoc-khong-nen-chi-dua-vao-xu-huong-thi-truong-hay-ten-goi-thoi-thuong-19725113022001933.htm