Third Vietnam Innovation Challenge launched

The Vietnam National Innovation Center (NIC) (under the Ministry of Finance) in collaboration with Meta, launched the third annual Vietnam Innovation Challenge 2025 on March 14.

This initiative aims to advance Al development in Vietnam.

The Vietnam Innovation Challenge attracts more than 750 solutions from more than 20 countries and territories each year. It was featured in the Whitehouse Factsheet during U.S. President Biden's visit to Vietnam in 2023, as a flagship partnership in technology between Vietnam and the United States. 

This year’s theme focuses on the ViGen Project, an endeavor to create high-quality, open-source, Vietnamese datasets for the training and enhancement of large language models (LLMs) so Al models can better understand Vietnamese culture, context and idiom. This will enhance Vietnamese language representation in Al, while also fueling rapid and sustainable economic growth in Vietnam.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung, the Vietnam Innovation Challenge is a strategic initiative to seek global innovative solutions to address Vietnam’s national challenges, contributing to Vietnam's journey of prosperity and sustainability. 

“This initiative requires close partnership in public and private sectors among national and international stakeholders. Together, we experiment and implement innovative solutions for a prosperous Vietnam,” Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung said.

To support the project, Meta is contributing a range of open source datasets from its Al and Data for Good program, ranging from insights on mobility and social connections, as well as training data from its own Al-powered population maps.

At the press conference announcing the launch of Vietnam Innovation Challenge 2025, Mr. Sarim Aziz, Director of Public Policy at Meta, stated that this is a defining year for Al in Vietnam. Meta is honored to partner with the National Innovation Center and the Al for Vietnam Foundation on ViGen Project . 

“By empowering Vietnamese researchers, developers, and businesses with open source Al models like LLMs and resources that understand their unique context, we're making it easier for them to unlock their full potential and drive meaningful innovation in Al that's uniquely suited to Vietnam's needs”, he said.

Similarly, Mr. Vo Xuan Hoai, Deputy Director General of the National Innovation Center (NIC), also shared that Al is transforming the world. Therefore, developing large-scale, high-quality and open-source Vietnamese datasets for Al training and evaluation has become an urgent priority. 

“Moreover, ViGen Project requires a collective effort from policy makers, think tanks, researchers, developers, experts and users alike. Together, we will transform Al into a powerful tool for every Vietnamese and make Vietnam a global Al powerhouse”, Mr. Hoai emphasized.