The National Data Association was established under Decision No. 10/QĐ-BNV dated January 10, 2025, issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, with the mission of connecting regulatory agencies, enterprises, organizations, and individuals operating in the field of data. The Association aims to build a robust data ecosystem, contributing to the advancement of the digital economy and increasing the value of data within the national economy. 

To date, the Association has brought together more than 300 members and over 100 reputable partners across the country — forming a broad, diverse network that is increasingly expanding its influence within Vietnam’s data community.

On March 22, 2025, the National Data Association held its first National Congress for the 2025–2030 term. In his keynote address, Comrade Prof. Dr. Tô Lâm, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, expressed his confidence that ‘the Association will become the common home of digital knights, a pioneering flag in implementing Resolution No. 57 and other resolutions on science and technology… helping Vietnam become a digital nation, with digital governance, a digital economy, and a digital society built upon Vietnam’s own “accurate – sufficient – clean – living” data.

Mission

As the first socio-professional organization dedicated to advancing and unlocking the potential of data, the National Data Association carries the mission of creating diverse data products and services, developing data application scenarios, and fostering the formation of a data market, a data industry, and a data-driven economy - while ensuring data security.

The Association’s mission goes beyond accelerating digitalization to innovate business models, increase income, or improve labor productivity. It also involves safeguarding data infrastructure, establishing monitoring mechanisms, coordinating response efforts, and addressing risks of cyberattacks, manipulation, and information abuse that could threaten the development and implementation of socio-economic policies.

The Association is positioned as a “strategic entity” closely linked to state management of data. It contributes to the development of legislation, engages in policy consultation and critique, and advises relevant agencies and organizations on technical, ethical, and accountability matters in data development — thereby supporting the sustainable growth of digital government, the digital economy, and the digital society.

Core Values

The Association’s strategic vision is to work alongside relevant agencies and organizations to gradually master data in a safe and transparent manner, promoting socio-economic development while safeguarding national sovereignty, interests, and security in cyberspace. The Association emphasizes four core values of data:

• Security and Safety – ensuring that data is not compromised, stolen, or influenced by external forces or high-tech criminals.

• Innovation – enabling the optimal exploitation of data, unleashing innovation potential, and creating added value for economic sectors.

• Responsibility – recognizing that data is tied to public and community interests; the use of data must comply with the law, adhere to ethical standards, and avoid violating privacy or cultural norms.

• Collaboration – achieved through consensus, knowledge-sharing, and resource connectivity to build a complete, sustainable, and internationally competitive data ecosystem.
  

As a bridge between the government, businesses, and the community, the National Data Association plays a vital role in connecting stakeholders and shaping a dynamic, transparent, and sustainable data ecosystem. It facilitates the participation of economic actors in the data market, promotes the formation of a data-driven economy in which data becomes an asset that can be valued, transacted, and reused.

The Association represents the voice of enterprises and the data community, protecting members’ interests, proposing mechanisms and policies to advance the data sector, and contributing to the development of a transparent and coherent legal framework for the data economy — particularly in matters related to ownership, sharing, and protection of personal data. It also plays a role in enhancing training capabilities and improving the quality of the high-skilled data workforce.

Additionally, the Association promotes innovation and data technology transfer, encourages the development of open data exploitation and analytics platforms, strengthens international cooperation, and supports the transfer of technologies from leading global data-driven economies.

As a national-level socio-professional organization, the National Data Association will actively participate in contributing to the development and refinement of policies and legal frameworks related to data security and safety. The Association serves as a bridge connecting the State, businesses, and citizens, engaging in the organization of conferences, seminars, and forums that address challenges in data management, research, teaching, business, application, and development. These platforms allow citizens to voice concerns regarding the protection of personal data rights, while state agencies introduce upcoming policies—collectively contributing to the formation of a transparent, civilized “data usage culture” and strengthening public trust.

The Association will take the lead in coordinating with ministries, agencies, and organizations across the political system, as well as with the business community, to research, develop, and implement solutions that ensure data security, cybersecurity, and information safety in the face of growing risks and challenges today.

To successfully fulfill its mission, the National Data Association will focus on concretizing and coordinating with relevant agencies and organizations to effectively implement the orientations given by General Secretary Tô Lâm, with emphasis on the following key areas:

First, to conduct research, make proposals, and contribute to improving the legal framework on data, creating conditions for data to be aggregated, circulated, connected, shared, and maximally utilized while ensuring data security, safety, and sovereignty. This includes participating in the development of institutions for data development, data products and services, the data market, and the data economy. The Association will propose mechanisms for establishing data ownership, management, processing, valuation, and distribution. It will review and recommend improvements to policies that encourage and incentivize investment in data industries, services, and the data market—especially in developing data application models. The Association will also recommend breakthrough policies for attracting foreign technology corporations, and mechanisms that promote domestic and international enterprises to invest, innovate, and expand the data market in Vietnam, while researching and developing products and services that ensure data security and protect personal data.

Second, to focus on developing four core data pillars—human data, location data, activity data, and object data—to serve socio-economic development, governance, and national defense and security. The approach centers on citizens and businesses, mobilizing the strength of the entire political system and society to participate in collecting, building, developing, exploiting, and enriching data, with the State playing a leading and pioneering role. The Association will promote the role of data organizations and develop a community of data entrepreneurs; build the data market as a breakthrough factor that drives data development and accelerates digital transformation across sectors and industries.

Third, to strengthen the application, mastery, and progress toward self-reliance in core data technologies, especially artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, and cloud computing. The Association will focus on developing core national data products as directed by the Government, including: the National Data Sharing and Coordination Platform; the National Data Exchange; the National Blockchain Platform; the National Decentralized Identity Solution; the National Email System; the National Virtual Assistant; the National High-Performance Computing Center; and the National Digital Asset Exchange.

Fourth, to build an advanced and modern data infrastructure, ensuring that such infrastructure is strategically invested ahead of demand to provide a foundation for digital transformation. The Association will prioritize investments and the operationalization of national databases and the four pillar databases-human, objects, locations, and activities. Alongside the National Data Center, the Association will promote the early development of databases supporting digital economy and digital society development, particularly in agriculture, industry, commerce, energy, cultural heritage, national relics, social insurance, labor market, education, healthcare, transportation, and natural resources and environment. The Association will take the lead in building civil data centers to connect and share data with the National Data Center, between the public and private sectors, and between the State and enterprises within its scope of work.

Fifth, to expand international cooperation, learn from global experience, attract resources, and participate in global data initiatives. This includes promoting information exchange, sharing best practices, adopting advanced technologies, and selectively integrating international experiences suitable for Vietnam’s context-gradually shaping the brand of “Vietnam Data” with its own identity, based on principles of legal compliance, respect for citizens’ rights and interests, and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Sixth, to establish effective mechanisms for data implementation and oversight. The Association will coordinate with relevant agencies and organizations to build and deploy more synchronized and comprehensive monitoring systems based on advanced digital technologies, ensuring full and effective compliance with legal regulations within the Association’s mandate.

Seventh, to build data security systems and products, develop data security services, establish data security standards, and form an industry in this field. The Association will strengthen the protection of data sovereignty and data security, enhancing data protection through advanced digital technologies, and contribute to developing and refining regulations on preventing violations against national databases, specialized databases, and activities involving attacks, appropriation, or theft of data.