From the lab to the market
Mr. Vu Hong Quan - Delegate of the 16th National Assembly, Vice Chairman of the Central Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association - said that shifting the focus from academic research to applied science, taking socio-economic efficiency as a measure is a correct direction. However, businesses cannot just wait for policies but must proactively invest in innovation, improve technology absorption capacity and build a team of engineers capable of evaluating, testing, and completing transferred research results.
According to Mr. Quan, this is the important condition for the knowledge created in the laboratory to truly enter life and form competitive products in the market.
Businesses must participate from the problem setting stage
One of the new points of current science and technology policies is to gradually bring businesses to participate throughout the research process, from identifying needs, proposing tasks to commercializing results.
Typically, the Excellent Research Student Support Program for the period 2026-2030 (VREF) approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology has encouraged a cooperation model between the State, research institutes, universities and businesses.
Mr. Nguyen Phu Binh - Deputy Director of the National Science and Technology Development Fund said that in this model, businesses are not only the technology recipient but also become a companion from the beginning.
The program selects about 100 excellent research students each year, prioritizing tasks aimed at mastering core technology and developing strategic technology products. Output targets are also clearly quantified: At least 60% of research results are published in prestigious international journals; at least 20% are registered for intellectual property rights protection and at least 15% are transferred or commercialized in production and business practice" - Mr. Binh informed.
According to the Deputy Director of the National Science and Technology Development Fund, this is also proof of the shift from a simple training support mindset to investing according to output results, taking products and markets as the ultimate destination.
VREF promotes an open research ecosystem, connecting institutes, schools and businesses from ideas to markets, in which businesses are an important link for applying and commercializing research results.
Forming businesses that master core technology
The technology race of Vietnamese businesses is accelerating as science and technology, innovation and digital transformation become new growth drivers.
More and more businesses are participating in research and development in fields such as AI, robots, self-driving cars, drones and new energy.
Large corporations such as: Vingroup, Viettel, FPT or Phenikaa not only invest in research and development but also build their own innovation ecosystem, gradually master core technologies and participate more deeply in the global value chain.
In a report sent to the Steering Committee of Resolution 57, Phenikaa Group said that the enterprise has built a linkage model between universities, research institutes and enterprises to test, complete and gradually commercialize technology products in its ecosystem. According to this enterprise, new technology products need to be supported by a controlled testing mechanism (sandbox), source capital and initial orders to form a domestic supply chain and retain a high-quality engineering team.
VNPT believes that Vietnamese businesses can deeply participate in the international value chain not only with complete products but also with hardware design, software, artificial intelligence models and intellectual property assets owned by Vietnamese people themselves.
