Figures of expectation
According to the vision to 2045 set out in the project, Viet Nam will develop a comprehensive, smart, and highly interactive digital cultural ecosystem, both preserving and promoting national cultural values while strongly spreading Vietnamese culture to the world and integrating internationally. Viet Nam’s digital culture will become a driving force for the comprehensive development of Vietnamese people and for enhancing national soft power. Cultural industries and the creative economy are expected to become sustainable pillars, contributing 9% of GDP, with digital cultural products accounting for more than 80% of total cultural industry output.
To realise this vision, the project sets out nine specific objectives to be implemented from now to 2030, each beginning with ambitious figures. For example, at least 80% of intangible cultural heritage of ethnic minority communities will be digitised and stored in specialised cultural databases; 100% of the national library system, national museums of history and culture, and public museums will focus on completing digital libraries and digital museums, developing smart library and museum models, while expanding integration, connectivity, and data sharing within both domestic and international library and museum networks.
In addition, the project outlines five groups of foundational tasks and solutions, each comprising between four and seven areas of work, all requiring urgent and synchronous implementation. For instance, within the first solution on improving institutions and policies, there are five key areas, each demanding significant time and resources. The opening part of the first area states clearly: to review, amend, supplement, and build new regulations to comprehensively complete the legal framework related to the cultural sector on digital copyright, intellectual property, authors’ rights and related rights, digital cultural data, digital cultural assets, digital content, digital cultural services, and cultural activities in the digital environment; priority will be given to developing, revising, and completing laws on intellectual property, cultural industry development, copyright, cultural heritage, cinema, performing arts, libraries, and related sub-law documents.
Finding solutions to the resource problem
Digitising physical artefacts, documents, and intangible data requires a systematic process of inventory, the development of scientific data mapping, and substantial resources in terms of human resources, facilities, and equipment. This is a challenge that is not easily resolved at present in Viet Nam, when there are simultaneously many demands for investment in basic infrastructure across all sectors.
Even within the cultural sector, infrastructure investment for several national-level museums is currently underway, such as at the National Museum of History and the Viet Nam Fine Arts Museum. Accordingly, the digitisation of documents and artefacts faces difficulties during the relocation of sites, exhibition spaces, and storage facilities, making it necessary to prioritise the safety of artefacts and materials, and in some cases to seal them for a certain period.
Within the second group of foundational tasks and solutions on mobilising and effectively using financial resources, the project proposes piloting public–private partnership models in developing digital cultural platforms, alongside policies offering incentives on tax, land, and credit for enterprises investing in digital cultural products and services. However, implementing this solution requires the involvement of various ministries and sectors, as well as related agencies in adjusting policy frameworks, meaning progress cannot be accelerated rapidly.
The digitisation of cultural heritage and resources to fully and deeply promote their value in contemporary life has been implemented by many countries around the world. It is considered a natural task for organisations and individuals in the process of systematising, preserving, and exploiting foundational data in the digital era.
Therefore, alongside ambitious figures, long-term goals, and visions, it is necessary to take a more practical view of digital transformation in Viet Nam’s cultural sector at present, considering it as a regular task of the sector, especially for public institutions responsible for preserving and safeguarding cultural heritage, assets, and artistic cultural materials. On that basis, appropriate adjustments should be made to allocate adequate resources for this work.
