These are the key issues raised at the scientific workshop "Contribution of science, technology and innovation to the human development index (HDI)", jointly organized by the Department of Social Sciences, Humanities and Natural Resources, the Office of State Key Programs and the Management Board of Programs KX.03/21-25 and KX.05/21-25 on the morning of April 17, 2025 in Hanoi.

Overview of the scientific conference.

Science, Technology and Innovation - Key driving force for sustainable development

The Human Development Index (HDI) published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since 1990 reflects three basic aspects of development: life expectancy, educational attainment and per capita income. This is an important indicator to assess progress in economics, society, health and education.

The workshop aimed to concretize the goal that science, technology and innovation must make an important contribution to building and developing the cultural, social and human values ​​of Vietnam, aiming to maintain the HDI index above 0.7 as stated in Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW dated December 22, 2024 of the Politburo on developing science, technology, innovation and digital transformation (DT).

At the workshop, delegates focused on clarifying the role of science, technology and innovation in improving the quality of life, sustainable development and improving HDI, thereby making specific and practical proposals and research directions. At the same time, discussing clarify theoretical issues to unify awareness of the important contributions of science, technology and innovation in building and developing cultural values, society and Vietnamese people.

The three main contents discussed at the Workshop include: Contribution of Science, Technology and Innovation to maintaining the HDI index above 0.7; Research orientation and solutions for organizing social science and humanities activities until 2030 associated with building and developing cultural, social and human values ​​of Vietnam, contributing to maintaining the human development index above 0.7; International experience in promoting the role of Science, Technology and Innovation in improving HDI.

According to Prof. Dr. Pham Van Duc, Deputy Head of Program KX.05/21-25, Science, Technology and Innovation play a central role in improving the quality of life and promoting sustainable development, helping to solve essential issues such as health care, education and the environment.

Advances in medicine (such as genetic engineering, precision medicine, etc.) have not only extended life expectancy but also improved quality of life. Meanwhile, information and communication technology has opened up vast learning opportunities, improving access to knowledge.

Besides, science and technology also contributes to promoting labor productivity, industrial development and increasing income, especially in the context of the 4.0 industrial revolution with technologies such as automation, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things.

Along with science and technology, innovation is not only a decisive factor in improving the competitiveness of countries, but also an important factor in solving social problems. Innovation creates new solutions to current challenges, helping to improve the quality of life of people. Innovative enterprises play an important role in developing new products and services, improving living conditions, increasing labor productivity and thereby increasing income for society.

Expressing his views on the role of science, technology and innovation in human development in the new era, Prof. Dr. Vo Khanh Vinh, Head of Program KX.03/21-25, affirmed that people are the central core value throughout the entire process of national development. Science, technology, innovation and digital transformation are for people and have a strong impact on the new era of national development.

Human development and Vietnam's HDI in the current context

According to Prof. Dr. Pham Van Duc, while traditional economic indicators such as GDP can partly reflect development, HDI provides a more comprehensive view, including the quality of life and development opportunities of the people. Therefore, improving HDI is not only an economic goal, but also a social goal, contributing to a sustainable society. To improve HDI, science, technology and innovation play an important role in all areas of social life.

Delegates shared at the Workshop.

To promote the role of science, technology and innovation in the new era, Prof. Dr. Vo Khanh Vinh suggested that it is necessary to form and build a new mindset about people, develop people in a superior, breakthrough and pioneering approach. There needs to be a multi-disciplinary, multi-faceted, interdisciplinary and integrated approach to comprehensively develop Vietnamese people. Comprehensively develop people, human rights, improve the physical strength, intelligence, capacity and skills of Vietnamese people to promote the role of people, human rights as the center, goal, subject, resource and driving force in national development. Build a new research program on people and develop Vietnamese people in the new era of national development...

Associate Professor, Dr. Luong Dinh Hai, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, said that HDI is one of the specific manifestations of quantifying human development from a specific perspective. HDI is a very important quantitative measure of human development today, being used more and more popularly in the world. Science, technology and the scientific and technological revolution (S&T) are affecting the conditions of human existence and development through technology and production and infrastructure development. At the same time, S&T and S&T affect social relations, physical strength, intelligence, mental strength, skills, and human security.

In order for science, technology and scientific and technological revolution to contribute more strongly to promoting the development of Vietnamese people, according to Dr. Vu Thi Thanh, Institute for Human, Family and Gender Studies, it is necessary to focus on both increasing and maintaining HDI above 0.7, improving the quality of human development, reforming the science and technology institution and removing barriers to the development of science and technology, removing bottlenecks to promote the development of science, technology and innovation, improving the quality of training of human resources for science and technology...

The workshop recorded 11 presentations and many profound opinions on the role and contribution of Science, Technology and Innovation to the development of the HDI index and made the following proposals and recommendations:

(1) Research on human development index is only a part of human development; (2) Develop a separate scientific research program on human, including how to improve Vietnam's human development index, including the HDI index; (3) It is necessary to soon select an agency or a scientific organization to perform specialized research on human and monitor the human development index to improve Vietnam's human development index; (4) Propose that the Ministry of Science and Technology unify one of the research indicators "with research content on improving the human development index" in topics under the national social sciences and humanities program; (5) Increase the organization of interdisciplinary and inter-program seminars and talks to update practices, share experiences, and improve research efficiency.