Science and Technology - Driving Force for Socio-economic Development

The Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Council and the Provincial People's Committee always highly prioritize the budget for scientific and technological research and application to production in all fields. Accordingly, scientific research is divided into five programs and fields: Agriculture and rural development; social sciences and humanities; industry sector; high technology; and basic investigations. Of these five fields, agriculture has the best application outcome. Research projects in this field are often transferred immediately when farming models and processes are formulated.

In agriculture and rural development, among about 16 provincial projects approved each year, the department advised allocating half of those projects to agriculture, particularly high-tech agriculture and organic agriculture. Besides, the province registers with the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam to carry out rural and mountainous programs. Every year, the Department of Science and Technology of Ninh Binh province is permitted to implement two rural and mountainous projects by the ministry. Typical agricultural application projects include "Application of technical advances to pilot freshwater mussel farming for pearls in Yen Khanh district, Ninh Binh province" and "IoT researching and application to a smart agriculture in organic vegetable and fruit production in Yen Khanh district."

Regarding industry, the department supported enterprises to renovate technology, upgrade production lines, and diversify products. Specifically, unburnt brick production sector and mechanical engineering sector have applied advanced technology to research, design and make new products and new materials to replace imported items such as high-quality unburnt bricks to replace burnt clay bricks; hammers and sieves for cement production lines; and vacuum metal casting.

In the medical field, the department focuses on raising public awareness of healthcare; building modern scientific and technological application models for effective healthcare; and applying science and technology to health administration, treatment and prevention, like managing personal electronic health records and managing noncommunicable disease models.

In basic survey, the department developed climate change scenarios; assessed impacts of climate change on industries and fields, with focus placed on agricultural production and farmers' livelihoods, proposed solutions to adapt to climate change and sea level rise; and built an electronic tourist map for Ninh Binh province. Especially, in intellectual property development, the province applied to the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam (NOIP) under the Ministry of Science and Technology for brand certification for such products as Cuc Phuong honey, Ninh Binh common water-plantain, Quang Soi tea, Tam Diep pink peach and successfully built the geographical indication for Dong Giao pineapple - Ninh Binh.

Mr. Nguyen Toan Thang, Director of Ninh Binh Department of Science and Technology, said, the Fourth Industrial Revolution or commonly known as Industry 4.0, is strongly evolving worldwide with many opportunities for scientific and technological development. In the coming time, the department will continue to apply Party policy on scientific and technological development, gradually making science and technology a driving force for industrialization and modernization and socioeconomic development as per the Resolution of the Party Congress at all levels in the 2020-2025 term. The agency will focus a lot on fostering Industry 4.0 application and digital transformation. Moreover, it will inspire entrepreneurship, innovation, conservation, production and development of genetic resources in the province. It will strengthen construction, management and development of certified brands and traceability of local products.

The department will also actively carry out theme-based tasks and projects concerning industry (especially mechanical engineering), high tech (information technology, biotechnology, new material technology), thus making science and technology a true driving force for local socioeconomic development.

Source: Vietnam Business Forum