One day after the introduction of Vingroup Big Data Institute, Prof. Vu Ha Van, Yale University (USA), the Scientific director of VinBDI shared the reason and expectation when coming back to Vietnam and receiving Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong’s invitation. The professor did not hesitate to confess that he found himself “surprised and interested while accepting the invitation of Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong to become the director of VinBDI.” He made that decision just because of their coincidence in “perspective and desire to make science improve humans’ life, and create favorable environment for researchers to dedicate their best as well as deserve higher income”.
Vingroup Big Data Institute will conduct research on important areas of big data such as machine learning and artificial intelligence. Professor Van said, making a few products capable of immediately changing the economy is unthinkable since the domestic science and technology basis has not developed yet. However, with the data industry, Vietnam can completely “leapfrog” by taking advantage of world advanced technology into practical applications in everyday life.
Vietnam is a big market where data technology can be applied into numerous industries, namely health, agriculture, transportation, etc. However, in Vietnam, there is still insufficient data and stiff in data mining. Professor Van explained, when he lost his identity card and asked the district governors for a new one, he received the answer that data is stored by city governors. It shows that at present, there is no correlation in data mining among specialized agencies. Therefore, right now, Professor wishes to conduct data archiving of different industries so that domestic and foreign community can easily access and use at any time.
Having nearly 15 years of cooperating with domestic universities, Prof. Vu Ha Van understands that in science if a research is conducted at an individual level, it will not create a significant social effect. However, the participation of enterprises with economic potentials and non-profit purposes will contribute to promoting the domestic science.
It is highly likely to gain achievement as Vingroup Innovation Foundation VinIF, with an investment of 1,000 billion VND in 3 years, is willing to fund meaningful projects that have a great impact on society. Incoming projects will be reviewed by a scientific council of domestic and foreign experts. Once approved, those projects will be supported until the introduction of final product. Additionally, the support level will not be limited.
He said that it was not only his dream but also the desire of all scientists. Successful implementation will gradually contribute to the development of a positive research culture in Vietnam, in which researchers will try their best, stick to the end instead of taking over and leaving it there.
Thereafter, Prof. Vu Ha Van is going to carry out a strategy to attract reputable artificial intelligence experts from abroad, as well as excellent scientists and students from research institutes and universities in Vietnam. With these commitments, Prof. Vu Ha Van believes that he will contribute to changing the domestic scientific research culture.
