The event, the 10th of its kind, will be broadcast live on VTV2.

Honoured innovators in 2013

The idea to create the award came in 2004 from Vu Oanh, chairman of the Vietnam Association of Study Encouragement , Do Trung Ta, minister of Post and Telecommunications, Tran Dang Tuan, deputy director of Vietnam Television (VTV). The decision was made in the presence of Professor Nguyen Van Hieu, Director of VDC Vu Hoang Lien and DtiNews Editor-in-chief Pham Huy Hoan.

Over the past decade, the event has become recognised as a prestigious award in the fields of IT, science, healthcare and the environment.

During the period, the organistion board has received a total of 2,000 entries by 5,000 applicants, 81 of whom are honoured each year at the ceremony. Applicants also include overseas Vietnamese.

The panel of judges includes many veteran scientists and experts, such as Dr. Hoang Le Minh, director of the Vietnam National Institute of Software and Digital Content Industry (NISCI); Dr. Luong Chi Mai, chairwoman of the Council of Scientists at the Institute of Information and Technology under the Vietnam Academy of Sciences; Dr. Nguyen Thanh Thuy, deputy director of Vietnam National University – Hanoi (VNU-HN)’s University of Technology; Dr. Tran Quy Nam, from the Ministry of Information and Communications’ Department of Information and Technology; and Dr Huynh Quyet Thang, director of the Hanoi University of Technology’s Institute of Information and Technology.

Pham Huy Hoan said, “I’ve worked as head of the organisation boards for several IT contests over the past two decades, and I have seen that the sector is changing. Events like this inspire new innovations and I think that it will become the most important sector in the global economy.”

Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) is the main sponsor, along with Vingroup, Vietcombank, ABBank and Jetstar Pacific. In addition, Professor Nguyen Van Hieu has personally granted VND100 million each year for the past five years.