Vietnam has climbed seven positions in the Government AI Readiness Index this year, ranking 6th among ASEAN countries and 55th globally, as shown in the latest report issued by the UK’s Oxford Insights. 

With the Government AI Readiness Index, British consultancy Oxford Insights aims to measure governments’ preparedness to implement AI in the delivery of public services to their citizens.

Vietnam earned an average score of 53.96 points in 2022, increasing from 51.82 points in 2021 and surpassing the global average of 44.61, according to Oxford Insights, which ranked 181 countries this year, up from 160 in last year’s iteration.

The jump in points pushed Vietnam up from 62nd place in the 2021 rankings to 55th globally and 6th in ASEAN this year, according to the report released on December 12. 

The index calculation is based on 39 indicators across 10 dimensions, which make up three pillars: the government, the technology sector, and data and infrastructure.

The ten dimensions include vision, governance and ethics, digital capacity, adaptability, maturity, innovation capacity, human capital, infrastructure, data availability, and data representativeness, Oxford Insights said.  

The U.S. led the index overall, largely thanks to its unmatched technology sector that earned the nation extremely strong scores in the Maturity and Innovation Capacity dimensions, which took stock of the technology sector’s size, value, and investment levels.

The second place went to Singapore, which was followed by the UK, Finland, and Canada, in that order.

Among other Southeast Asian nations, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines ranked 31st, 43rd and 54th, respectively.

This year saw Western European countries make up fewer than half of the top 10 countries for the first time as three East Asian countries – Singapore, South Korea, and Japan – were named in the top 10, the report said.

Technology sectors across East Asia, which includes 17 countries, are growing, with nine of them serving as homes to 'unicorns' (companies valued over US$1 billion) this year, compared to six in last year’s index.

The three newcomers were the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

“The region is well-positioned for tech sector growth because of its young, digitally skilled population who are fast adopters of digital alternatives,” Oxford Insights said in the report. 

In Vietnam, the Ministry of Science and Technology successfully conducted the 2022 Vietnam Artificial Intelligence Day in September with a view to promoting AI development and application in the country, according to the Vietnam Government Portal. 

This is the fifth publication of the Government AI Readiness Index, following the previous editions in 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

The index aims to help governments prepare for the adoption of AI in their services by having the capacities, frameworks, skills, resources, and infrastructure in place to make good decisions about AI use, Oxford Insights said.

Like us on Facebook or  follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!