The 2025 Vietnam National Innovation and Startup Festival (TECHFEST 2025) is a series of events promoting innovation, organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology in coordination with the Hanoi People's Committee from December 12-14.
At the opening ceremony of TECHFEST 2025 held and on the evening of December 13, the winners of the Data for Life contest were announced and awarded. According to the final results, the first prize went to the Cheppy team; the two second prizes were awarded to the Intron and Factorem teams; the third prizes went to the Viditec, Thang Hoa and Landbase teams.
The Data for Life 2025 contest is chaired by the Ministry of Public Security, in coordination with ministries, branches, universities, localities, technology enterprises and domestic and foreign innovation organizations. Data for Life season 3 with the role of connecting data - technology - policies - markets, promoting the national innovation ecosystem. This year the contest attracted 2,900 teams with more than 9,100 contestants.
Within the framework of TECHFEST 2025, the Organizing Committee of the Data for Life contest organized a seminar on "orientation for developing and supporting data for Life contest products". The seminar is an opportunity for the organizer, the Jury and the winning teams to discuss and discuss support directions, perfect and develop solutions after the competition.
At the seminar, Lieutenant Colonel Luong Thi Thu Trang - Representative of the Data for Life Organizing Committee said that if in previous seasons many teams had only stopped at ideas or demos, this year the participating teams must have complete products, clearly demonstrating the applicable nature and practical implementation capability. This requirement was directly verified at the exhibition round within the framework of TECHFEST Vietnam 2025.
According to the Organizing Committee, including the exhibition vong in the contest structure helps to assess more closely the ability of the products to meet market demand. The teams not only presented ideas but also had to prove how the product actually operated, how users approached it and the ability to expand during the implementation process.
The Organizing Committee also emphasized the three-house model including the state, schools and enterprises applied throughout the contest. In particular, connecting investment funds, sponsoring enterprises and innovation centers is identified as a key factor, in order to create conditions for products after the competition to continue to be nurtured, developed and put into practice, instead of stopping at awards.
At the seminar, the representative of the Jury - Mr. Ngo Quoc Thai assessed the Cheppy team (the first prize winning team) for the level of product completion, from presentation content to practical performance. The solution of applying AI in supporting English learning for primary and secondary school students is considered suitable for the Vietnamese market, with large scale and clear needs.
With the second prize winning team (factorem team) from Singapore, Mr. Thai believes that this is an international solution, focusing on connecting the supply chain between the manufacturer and component purchasers. Notably, although Singapore is not a country with a strong production base, the team still built a model suitable for the global supply chain, showing the team's thinking and vision.
The judges also pointed out areas that need to be improved after the competition, such as expanding data sources to improve the accuracy of AI models, building clear business strategies and taking advantage of controlled testing mechanisms (sandbox). Opening up data is considered an important factor for data products to develop sustainably in the following seasons.
Sharing at the seminar, Ms. Pham Thu Ngan - Representative of the first prize winning team said that the journey of participating in Data for Life helps the product not only improve technology but also directly access the market. At the exhibition round, many English centers and teachers experienced the product, opening up opportunities for cooperation right during the event.
According to Cheppy's representative, the biggest value of the contest is creating conditions to verify whether the product is really suitable for the Vietnamese market or not. The team also expressed their desire to receive more policy and connection support to be able to expand the application of the product, especially in the context that English is being oriented to become a mandatory subject from grade 1.
Cheppy representative said that AI-based learning platforms can help reduce the gap between regions, supporting teachers and students in the context of limited learning time in class. In the long term, the team aims to expand the product to other groups of learners, including technical workers and technology engineers.
At the seminar, Mr. Isaac Tan Tang Yue - Representative of the second prize winning team expressed his gratitude to the Organizing Committee of the competition for creating an open playground, creating conditions for domestic and international teams to exchange directly and learn from each other. According to the team, many ideas participating in the competition are highly practical and widely applicable in production and business.
A representative of Factorem said that Vietnam is identified as a key cooperative market in the upcoming development strategy. The team wishes to expand data and AI technology to Vietnam, while connecting with domestic manufacturing enterprises to build a sustainable supply chain between Singapore and Vietnam.
Through the discussions at the Seminar, delegates said that Data for Life does not stop at a competition, but is gradually becoming a space connecting creative ideas and data-based solutions with the practical needs of society. Sharings from the Organizing Committee, the Jury and the winning teams show that many products have great potential if they continue to be perfected, accompanied and supported in the right direction.
The seminar also contributed to affirming the role of data, technology and people in the innovation ecosystem, while suggesting approaches for the development and implementation of solutions to serve the community, businesses and the State in the coming time.
