The digital environment and cyberspace have gone far beyond the framework of a technical connectivity environment to become a strategic space for national development and an important front in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland. Cyberspace needs to be regarded as an inseparable component of national sovereignty and the key to national prosperity in the digital era, whereby the will for independence, autonomy, and the aspiration to build a strong and prosperous country must be established, protected, and vigorously promoted.
In a world without tangible physical borders, if we fail to keep pace with and master knowledge, technology, and data, we will lose development opportunities and face the risk of dependence and falling behind in the global value chain.
This thinking is also clearly reflected in Viet Nam’s Law on Cybersecurity, which affirms that national cyberspace is an inseparable component of the sovereignty, jurisdiction, and control of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.
Recognising this, we also deeply understand that protecting national digital sovereignty is not merely about safeguarding technical infrastructure but is a political task of strategic significance. Protecting national digital sovereignty means safeguarding the right to self-determination in shaping the country’s development path, protecting supreme jurisdiction, and ensuring the highest national and ethnic interests.
Integration and autonomy strategy in the digital era
Practical experience in building and defending the Fatherland and developing the country shows that the relationship between independence, autonomy, and international integration has always been a dialectical pair, organically unified and mutually interactive. In the digital era, this relationship is even more evident.
As a latecomer in technology, Viet Nam needs deep and extensive international integration and cooperation in order to maximise resources for national development, while also resolutely maintaining the right to self-determination, avoiding being drawn into technological competition and conflicts; it absolutely must not becoming a dumping ground for outdated and harmful technologies.
To achieve this, Viet Nam must creatively apply the art of Vietnamese diplomacy in tandem with consolidating potential and enhancing national strategic autonomy.
Specifically, it is necessary to firmly uphold the principle of always placing national and ethnic interests above all else. All cooperation and struggle in cyberspace must adhere to this principle. This is the “constant” as Viet Nam participates in shaping global rules on the basis of respect for international law, closely linking national development goals with participation in addressing global issues, and enhancing the country’s international standing and prestige.
At the same time, to catch up, move ahead, and rise, technology diplomacy must be identified as a spearhead, with readiness to pilot new models. Viet Nam proactively participates deeply in the global value chain, befriends all major technology powers to learn and develop together, and makes positive contributions to peace and development in the world and the region. Specifically, it is essential to continuously consolidate potential and firmly maintain autonomy and self-reliance. To avoid dependence, autonomy is indispensable. Viet Nam pursues the building of an independent and self-reliant economy associated with deep integration, focusing on developing strategic industries such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI). Attracting external resources and promoting technology transfer aim to absorb global excellence, enhance the capacity of Vietnamese enterprises, and transform foreign technologies into “Make in Viet Nam” solutions.
Building a defence system to protect national strategic resources
The digital environment has become the lifeblood of the global digital economy and digital society, exerting profound impacts on economic, political, cultural, social, defence, security, foreign affairs, and citizens’ lives in the real world. In this context, data is a national strategic resource and the principal means of production of a new mode of production. Unlike finite physical resources, data has unique economic characteristics: the more it is shared, connected, and exploited, the greater its value becomes. Fully unlocking the potential of data not only creates new added value but also drives the rapid development of the data industry, data economy, and knowledge economy, which is decisive for national autonomy and competitiveness.
The aggregation and concentration of data to enrich and harness its potential has therefore become an inevitable trend. This explains the sharp increase in both the number and scale of data centres and high-performance computing centre projects worldwide. For this reason, maintaining strategic autonomy in technology infrastructure and especially data sovereignty plays an increasingly important and decisive role in protecting national digital sovereignty. This is also a consistent requirement set out in the Politburo’s Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW (dated December 22, 2024) on breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation, and national digital transformation (Resolution 57-NQ/TW).
Implementing the guidelines and requirements of Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW on developing digital and technological infrastructure based on the principles of “modern, synchronous, secure, safe, efficient, and avoiding waste”, Viet Nam has been and is deploying and building a deep, multi-layered and comprehensive defence system to protect this strategic resource.
The first layer is the “institutional” layer. This is the outermost defence layer but is particularly important. A strict legal framework on data sovereignty is being built, institutionalising the Party’s viewpoints on cybersecurity and information security. Legal documents pave the way in advance, clearly defining responsibilities and ensuring transparent and disciplined mechanisms for data connection, sharing, and exploitation.
The second layer is the “technology” layer. Viet Nam is developing a dual-use cybersecurity industry, applying advanced digital technologies and AI to monitor, detect risks early and from afar, and respond proactively while avoiding passivity and surprise. Cybersecurity is also one of Viet Nam’s 11 strategic technology fields. The infrastructure of the National Data Centre is protected by “Make in Viet Nam” technological solutions mastered by Viet Nam. Ensuring sovereignty in cyberspace must thoroughly implement the guideline of “proactive prevention as the main approach, going one step ahead, avoiding passivity and surprise in all situations. All risks and challenges related to cybersecurity, information security, and data safety must be identified and addressed early.”
The third layer is the “human” layer and the “people’s security posture in cyberspace”. This is the decisive factor, because no matter how advanced technology is, people will remain the key element. Protecting cybersecurity is not only the responsibility of specialised forces but the cause of the entire population. In the digital era, every citizen and every enterprise contributes to forming a solid people’s security posture in cyberspace.
At the same time, it is necessary to frankly acknowledge that the shortage and weakness of specialised human resources in cybersecurity and digital transformation is an urgent issue, particularly acute at the commune and ward levels when implementing the two-tier local government model. In reality, it is not feasible to expect all grassroots officials to immediately become experts in this field.
Therefore, in addition to breakthrough mechanisms and policies to attract and retain talent and train high-quality human resources, it is necessary to synchronously deploy three groups of solutions to support the grassroots level. First, intensify specialised training programmes so that each grassroots official will not only master digital skills but also possess “digital intuition” to identify and combat harmful and toxic information, fraud, and cyberattacks. Second, develop unified digital platforms and processes with standardised security that can be shared and used consistently from the national level down to the commune level; issue safety appraisal procedures; and conduct regular inspection and supervision. Third, mobilise support from specialised forces, promoting the role of “community digital technology teams” or dedicated cybersecurity experts to provide timely assistance and emergency response when incidents occur.
Algorithm sovereignty and the preservation of Vietnamese cultural identity and value systems
National and social governance increasingly relies on big data and algorithms to optimise decision-making processes. The rapid development and unlimited application potential of AI have been and are bringing about profound changes in how humans think, interact, and transform the objective world. This requires us to view algorithm sovereignty (alongside data sovereignty) as a new aspect of national digital sovereignty.
Artificial intelligence has been identified as one of the 11 strategic technology fields that Viet Nam prioritises for development and mastery. The Party and the State have issued guidelines and mechanisms to develop “leading goose” technology enterprises, invest in data infrastructure and shared high-performance computing infrastructure, and release high-quality open Vietnamese-language datasets to encourage domestic enterprises to research and develop “Make in Viet Nam” AI models. In this process, it is urgent to formulate and promulgate a national computing capacity development strategy to synchronously and uniformly deploy strategic planning for high-performance computing infrastructure, algorithm development, and human resource training in association with planning for AI data centres, energy development, and the national AI development strategy. The objective is to create AI models imbued with a “Vietnamese soul” that not only understand the Vietnamese language but also grasp Vietnamese ethics and think in accordance with Vietnamese cultural norms and value systems. At the same time, it is necessary to continue strongly promoting the “Digital literacy movement”, online learning platforms, and education for the younger generation, forming a generation of Vietnamese digital citizens with strong digital skills, firm political resolve, and deep cultural understanding, capable of mastering technology rather than being led by it.
Strongly promoting the role of domestic technology enterprises
Domestic technology enterprises play a central role in forming the country’s technological potential and autonomy capacity. They are the pioneering force in mastering core technologies and a key pillar in implementing breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation, and national digital transformation.
The year 2025 marks the first year of implementing Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW. During the year, the National Assembly passed 30 laws related to science, technology, innovation and digital transformation, and the government issued 68 guiding decrees. Three additional submarine fibre-optic cable routes were put into operation; 5G coverage reached nearly 59% of the population; Viet Nam’s Internet speed ranked among the world’s top 20; data were built, cleaned, and put into operation through four national databases and 31 sectoral databases; and Viet Nam’s indicators for information security, innovation, and e-government all improved markedly. This reflects the great efforts and determination of the entire political system and the active engagement of the technology business community.
In the coming period, it is necessary to continue promoting the implementation of mechanisms and solutions such as investment incentives, risk-sharing, venture capital funds, new-generation public–private partnership models, and the promotion of the “triple parties” linkage (State – Universities – Enterprises), in conjunction with reforming public procurement mechanisms and task assignment mechanisms, in order to unlock the potential of technology enterprises to master core technologies while actively contributing to solving major challenges in science, technology, and digital transformation for sectors, localities, the nation and the enterprises themselves.
Technology enterprises, especially domestic technology enterprises, need to continue strongly promoting their pioneering role, increasing substantial investment in R&D and mastering core technologies such as semiconductor chips, AI, and cloud computing. At the same time, “leading goose” enterprises must truly be “leading geese” in the fullest sense, serving as bridges to bring Vietnamese enterprises deeply into the global value chain rather than competing only in the domestic market. These “leading geese” must fulfil their guiding role, creating and connecting markets to support small and medium-sized technology enterprises to grow together, thereby lifting the entire national innovation ecosystem. This is the key factor determining the country’s technological potential and autonomy and self-reliance capacity.
In the digital era, a strong and prosperous nation cannot be one that is weak in cyberspace. Viet Nam is standing at the threshold of a new era — the era of the nation’s rise. To realise the centennial strategic goals of becoming a developing country with modern industry and upper-middle income by 2030, and a developed, high-income country by 2045, Viet Nam must create strong breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation, and national digital transformation.
This is the path for Viet Nam to integrate deeply into the international community with a spirit of autonomy, self-reliance, self-strength, and national confidence and pride. The success of this breakthrough endeavour lies in the mindset, intellect, and aspirations of every child of the Vietnamese nation.
The year 2026 marks the beginning of the crucial strategic period for national development in 2026–2030. Every citizen, every enterprise, and every locality should strongly awaken Vietnamese intellect, courage, and aspiration, while standing ready to devote themselves to the cause of innovation, bringing Vietnamese intellect, values, and identity further onto the global stage and into cyberspace. This is the key for us to jointly build a bright, strong and prosperous future for the nation.
