Civil societies in Vietnam are keen to take a leading position in emerging technologies and have launched the Vietnam Academy of Blockchain and AI Innovation (ABAII) to accelerate the pace of digitalization.
According to a local news report, ABAII will contribute its quota to transform Vietnam’s digital economy amid a wave of foreign investment and government initiatives. ABAII debuted at an annual blockchain and AI forum in Hanoi, with participants hailing the project as the “giant leap” for the ecosystem.
Details of the launch reveal ABAII’s ambitious goal to train a million Vietnamese residents in AI and blockchain before the end of the decade. It is unclear where funding for the mass education will come from, although sources remain optimistic that the initiative will receive full government support.
To start with, ABAII will train an initial target of 100,000 students in the short term, drawn from 30 universities in the Southeast Asian country. The initiative aims to equip residents with various AI and blockchain training courses, hands-on workshops and annual tours of the university.
Students will gain keen insights into potential career opportunities related to blockchain and AI, while a module will be dedicated to ethics and safe use.
Executives say ABAII will increase interest in higher education institutions through a combination of hackathons and ideation, but it won’t be limited to universities. ABAII has tested the waters with a university tour of five leading universities, achieving impressive interest rates among the student population.
Đào Trung Thành, deputy director of the project, confirmed the donation of 50 scholarships to engineering students “to promote the universalization of blockchain and AI” in the country.
Vietnam’s young and tech-savvy population is no stranger to blockchain, with the country topping the DeFi rankings in the ASEAN region, ahead of Thailand and Malaysia. Additionally, residents of Vietnam have previously cut their teeth on play-to-earn games like the native Axie Infinity and Gods Unchained.
AI could break away from the pack
While Vietnam continues to view AI and blockchain as the two pillars of its digitalization effort, analysts predict that AI will become increasingly relevant and useful. They base their arguments on an influx of foreign capital to support the local AI ecosystem, with Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) known to commit huge amounts of investment in the country.
The US chipmaker has signed a deal with local IT company FPT to establish a semiconductor factory that will act as a ‘one-stop shop’ for AI in Vietnam. In 2023, the US pledged to deepen economic ties with Vietnam in the areas of AI and innovation, while remaining known as the mother of blockchain.
“We are deepening our cooperation on critical and emerging technologies, especially around building a more resilient semiconductor supply chain,” said US President Joe Biden.