From institutional reforms and data infrastructure development to data-driven models serving governance and grassroots production, the contours of the data economy have gradually taken shape, while also revealing bottlenecks that must be addressed to move into a more substantive phase of development.
National data architecture
The year 2025 can be seen as a pivotal period in which Viet Nam’s data economy has shifted from policy awareness to the concrete design of a development architecture. Previously, data was largely viewed as a tool supporting digital transformation; it is now recognised as a new factor of production, playing a direct role in productivity, innovation and national competitiveness. Underscoring the strategic importance of this resource, Major General Nguyen Ngoc Cuong, Director of the National Data Centre and Vice Chairman of the National Data Association, affirmed that data is the “heart” of digital transformation and the “brain” of the nation’s era of growth and prosperity.
A key milestone over this year has been the gradual completion of the legal framework governing data. The National Assembly’s passage of the Data Law (Law No. 60/2024/QH15), together with related legislation such as the Law on the Digital Technology Industry, the Law on Personal Data Protection, and the Law on Science, Technology and Innovation, alongside Government decrees guiding implementation, has created a relatively comprehensive legal framework for data governance, exploitation and protection. This framework both paves the way for the formation of a data market, promoting open data and data-sharing models among the State, businesses and society, and ensures data security and safety, as well as the legitimate rights and interests of citizens and enterprises.
These steps closely reflect the spirit of the Politburo’s Resolution No.57-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in the development of science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation, which clearly identifies the need to “enrich data”, elevate data to a primary factor of production, and accelerate the development of big data infrastructure, the data industry and the data economy.
Beyond institutional development, the past year has also seen significant progress in the organisation and coordination of data at the national level. Viet Nam has chosen to approach the data economy by building a modern, secure and interconnected national data system, with the Ministry of Public Security designated as the unified coordinating body. On this basis, the National Data Centre has been established and put into operation, gradually forming a centralised and reliable data infrastructure—the “backbone” of Viet Nam’s data economy. To date, more than 340 sectoral databases have been developed nationwide; many key national databases, including population, land, business registration, insurance and electronic civil status, are operating stably. The National Data Portal has published more than 10,300 open datasets, while the data digitisation rate among state agencies has reached around 53%, with some ministries, sectors and localities exceeding 80%.
Alongside institutional refinement, the year 2025 has also marked an important shift in the implementation of data policies. In line with Plan No. 02-KH/BCĐTW and the Prime Minister’s Directive No. 24/CT-TTg, since October 1, 2025, the Public Administrative Service Centres nationwide have stopped accepting paper documents for 25 essential online public services, replacing them with data extraction from national and sectoral databases. According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, the implementation has been being closely monitored and regularly urged forward, with bottlenecks related to infrastructure, connectivity and digital skills at the grassroots level gradually being addressed, enabling data to serve citizens and businesses more directly.
Bottlenecks and solutions for data economy
If the national data architecture is shaped at the central level through institutions, infrastructure and unified coordination mechanisms, the most important measure of the data economy lies in its ability to take root in local practice. Over the past year, the data economy has begun to move beyond policy discussions and seminars into concrete applications in governance, public services and production and business activities, although implementation remains uneven.
In Hung Yen Province, data have been identified as a new development resource, directly linked to the goal of transforming the growth model. The issuance of the Digital Data Development Strategy for the 2025–2030 period, with a vision to 2035, together with the deployment of virtual assistants in management and administration, demonstrates that data and artificial intelligence (AI) are being applied toward evidence-based decision-making.
According to Nguyen Xuan Hai, Deputy Director of the Hung Yen Provincial Department of Science and Technology, while capital, land, and natural resources once determined development, knowledge, data, and innovation are now the foundations of the future. In Hue, data are approached through a model that integrates preservation with development; Bac Ninh is moving toward a “data city” model; and Da Nang continues to systematically implement the National Data Strategy, operating the Da Nang Intelligent Operations Centre (IOC) and the DaNang AI digital assistant, viewing data as the “soft infrastructure” of a modern city.
However, practical experience shows that even leading localities face fundamental challenges, underscoring that the data economy is not merely a technological issue but a comprehensive challenge involving institutions, data, and people. According to the National Data Centre, of the 105 databases assigned for implementation nationwide, only 31 are operating stably, 36 are under construction, and 38 are behind schedule or have yet to be implemented. This gap clearly indicates that without standardisation, interoperability, and unified coordination mechanisms, local data models struggle to generate added value and spillover effects for the broader economy.
Many international assessments suggest that, with an appropriate strategy, Viet Nam’s data economy could contribute 5–8% of GDP by 2030 and create 200,000–300,000 new jobs. However, this potential is currently constrained by structural bottlenecks, notably formalistic data-sharing mechanisms, fragmented and duplicated data, and the lack of an overarching data architecture and unified quality standards. Although the legal framework for data is increasingly perfected, paving the way for a data market and open data, the implementation phase remains a weak point, with a prevailing “data ownership” mindset and the absence of a synchronised data governance and quality assessment system.
In terms of infrastructure, Viet Nam has made progress with the establishment of the National Data Centre and nearly 40 operational data centres nationwide, with a total capacity of approximately 145 MW; about 56% of enterprises are using cloud computing services. Nevertheless, the scale and capacity of this infrastructure remain insufficient for deep development, as reflected in the fact that the data economy currently contributes only about 1.4–1.5% of GDP. At the same time, data-related human resources continue to be a “soft bottleneck” as Viet Nam has only around 18,000–20,000 data and AI specialists, while the market is estimated to lack 70,000–90,000 high-quality professionals. In many localities, some officials still struggle to shift from an administrative management mindset to data-driven decision-making.
From an opportunity perspective, Luong Cong Danh, a member of the Executive Board of the Viet Nam Data Experts Network (VDEN), noted that Viet Nam can move quickly but must move in the right direction, based on the four pillars outlined in Resolution No.57: institutions, human resources, infrastructure, and data. According to him, the State should pave the way and define the challenges; the private sector should serve as the main implementation driver; and startups and technology talents should act as catalysts. At the same time, Viet Nam should attract overseas Vietnamese with expertise in data and AI to accompany localities and help narrow the technology gap.
At the strategic level, Major General Nguyen Ngoc Cuong emphasised that developing the data economy is a core task closely linked to national competitiveness and digital sovereignty. He stressed that priorities should be implemented in a clear sequence: completing institutions and mechanisms for data transactions and valuation; developing national data infrastructure; forming a regulated data market; and making strong investments in human resources. Only when these pillars are synchronously connected can the data economy move beyond its initial phase to become a substantive new growth driver.
