Deputy minister of Science and Technology Bùi Thế Duy meets leaders of the HCM City People’s Committee on April 2 to discuss the national AI strategy. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY – Deputy minister of Science and Technology Bùi Thế Duy discussed implementation of the national strategy on research, development and application of artificial intelligence (AI) from now to 2030 with HCM City leaders on Friday.

His ministry drafted the strategy with a focus on transport, logistics, tourism, e-commerce, telecommunications, education, urban management, social management, and public administration, he said.

The strategy envisages building three AI innovation centres in the country, one of them in HCM City, which has a large number of universities, research institutes and organisations, and a high volume of trade.

To tap this potential, the city targets creating an AI eco-system with close links between researchers and businesses and incentives for them.

It says one of the most important tasks is developing human resources by improving higher education, building 4.0 technology training institutes and encouraging the use of technology and renovation at businesses and by investment in research.

Experts said the city should catch up with global AI trends by investing in training and building an open-source database.

It should establish AI departments at universities and develop new courses, they said.

It should encourage businesses to embrace AI to enhance their competitiveness, and solicit investment in and promote AI products made locally, they added.

Vũ Hải Quân, director of the Việt Nam National University of HCM City, said the city should develop an AI research and training teams, build digital infrastructure, offer incentives to encourage enterprises to use AI, and improve human resources in AI.

Linkages between the government, businesses, scientists, and investors should also be promoted, he said.

The city should focus on developing start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the field, he added.

Deputy chairman of the city People’s Committee, Dương Anh Đức, said the city would prioritise investment in human resources and work with the Ministry of Science and Technology in the field of AI.

Its departments and agencies are prepared and determined to support the AI development programme, he said.

The city Department of Information and Communications has sought the People's Committee’s green light for a programme on research and development in AI applications in 2020-30, which seeks to make AI a core technology in building a creative and smart city for rapid and sustainable economic development.

The programme also aims to make AI a key technology in digital transformation.

The city plans to mobilise investment to develop AI businesses, brands, products, and applications. – VNS