‘Many scientific research results are not closely linked to production and the market’

The Central Steering Committee for Science and Technology Development, Innovation and Digital Transformation, announced the conclusions of General Secretary To Lam, Head of the Steering Committee, after the first meeting of 2026, March 12.

After one year of implementation, the Steering Committee noted that important foundations for the development of science, technology, innovation and digital transformation have been created. In particular, society’s awareness of the role of the field has clearly changed. Many programs and work plans with the goals of socio-economic development, improving labor productivity, administrative effectiveness and quality of service to people and businesses have been implemented.

Institutions, mechanisms and policies also continue to be paid attention to improvement. Many tasks on building databases, developing digital infrastructure, promoting innovation, developing strategic technology and training human resources are assessed to “have been implemented more synchronously than in the previous period”, and at the same time, the cooperation model between the State – businesses – institutes has initially been formed, creating a premise for linking scientific research with production and the market.

In addition, the participation of the technology business community, research institutes, universities and a team of domestic and foreign experts and scientists in implementing the tasks of Resolution 57 was recorded as “positive”.

However, the General Secretary said that “there is still a lot of work to be done” compared to the requirement to make science, technology, innovation and digital transformation the main driving force of the new growth model.

Among them, there are tasks implemented behind schedule, the way of organizing implementation in some places is “spread out, following the movement, reactive”, many large tasks have not created substantive changes. A number of institutional, infrastructure, data, technology market, human resource and enforcement bottlenecks have not yet been fundamentally resolved.

“In particular, in institutional conditions, there have been important steps to disentangle the situation and enough resources have been allocated, but many scientific research results are still not closely linked to production and the market,” the conclusion reads.

Besides, many tasks are tallied completed, but the final result is not usable; Many innovative initiatives and ideas have not been commercialized; Digital transformation in some places stops at the level of technology application in administrative management, and has not really become a driving force in improving productivity and efficiency of the economy.

According to the General Secretary, this practice poses a requirement in the coming time to shift more strongly from “implementing tasks” to “creating real, measurable results”, from “dispersed and spread out” methods to “concentrating resources to solve major problems of strategic significance for national development”.

Reiterating the motto of 2026 as “Breakthrough actions, spreading results”, he also requested that the implementation of Resolution 57 be done “more drastically, more methodically, more firmly and more effectively”. Each task must be associated with specific results, each program must solve major problems of national development and each level and each sector must clearly define its responsibilities in the implementation process.

From the remaining problems, the Steering Committee requires promoting the application of scientific achievements, technology, innovation and digital transformation to directly serve the production and business activities of enterprises and the economy.

“Science and technology development must be strongly focused on solving practical problems of the economy, improving labor productivity, product quality and enterprise competitiveness,” the conclusion stated, and at the same time required units to promote the application of new technologies, especially artificial intelligence, big data, automation, digital technology and platform technologies in manufacturing, service and business management industries. Ministries, branches and localities are also required to review and evaluate technologies being used in production fields to take measures to upgrade and convert technology to create higher and more effective labor productivity.

“The implementation must have a clear roadmap and expected investment resources. The Ministry of Science and Technology reviews quality standards to ensure they meet the country’s development requirements in the new period,” the General Secretary said.

The guiding conclusion also emphasizes continuing to improve institutions, mechanisms and policies to strongly develop science, technology, innovation and digital transformation, paying special attention to the implementation stage, and turning institutions into national competitive advantages.

In particular, regulations related to the controlled testing mechanism (sandbox), financial mechanism, and public procurement mechanism for domestic technology products also need to be “urgently promulgated”. Institutional building is required to ensure three requirements, including: compatibility with Vietnam’s political institutions, legal system and management practices; Feasibility in implementation; and effectiveness measured by specific results, directly contributing to growth, productivity and innovation.

The Steering Committee requires focusing on creating and perfecting fundamental infrastructure and deploying strategic technologies; ensuring safety, information security, data security, enforcing intellectual property rights, preventing and combating crime and negativity in cyberspace; Strengthen enforcement discipline in implementation.

“The requirements are very urgent, the amount of work is very large. We do not just stop at identifying the problem but must really start removing bottlenecks, creating specific, measurable results, directly contributing to the overall growth of the country,” the conclusion stated.