At the forum “Digital stories from the villages,” experts and young ethnic minority representatives shared how digital thinking is transforming education, livelihoods, and local culture.
Despite facing challenges in economy, infrastructure, and digital skills, ethnic minority students and youth across Vietnam’s villages are gradually embracing technology for learning, livelihood, and entrepreneurship-while promoting their cultural identity.
On the afternoon of December 26, as part of the 2025 Ceremony of Commendation for Outstanding Ethnic Minority Students and Youth, a forum titled “Digital stories from the villages” brought together experts in science and technology, along with ethnic minority students and young innovators, to discuss how digital transformation and creative thinking are reshaping education and community life.
Digital transformation must start from mindset
At the forum, Nguyen Van Ba, Editor-in-Chief of VietNamNet and Standing Deputy Head of the Organizing Committee, emphasized that digital transformation has become a major current in national development.
“Digital transformation will only be meaningful when it reaches every community, every village, and when young people become its true drivers,” he said, adding that digital technology is opening new pathways for ethnic minority youth to study, start businesses, and contribute to their communities.
Nguyen Van Ba, Editor-in-Chief of VietNamNet. (Photo by Thach Thao)
Nguyen Phan Huy Khoi, Master of Science and Director of the Vietnam Youth Startup Support Center, noted that digital transformation is no longer a distant strategy but a living process in every household and village.
Today, ethnic minority students and young people are using smartphones, accessing social networks, studying through online platforms, selling local products digitally, and sharing their cultural stories in the language of technology.
“This proves that ethnic youth have entered the digital journey on their own feet,” Khoi said.
However, he pointed out that significant barriers remain-uneven digital infrastructure, limited access to devices and connectivity, and, most importantly, gaps in digital thinking and confidence.
“We often hesitate, afraid to try or to fail, wondering if someone from a remote village could truly succeed. That mindset itself can become the biggest obstacle,” Khoi added.
He stressed that the core of innovation does not lie in technology but in people’s belief in their own abilities and their trust in technology as a tool for change.
Every young person can be a digital ambassador
Nguyen Phan Huy Khoi, innovation and startup expert. (Photo by Thach Thao)
According to Khoi, for ethnic minority youth, innovation starts not with high-tech laboratories but with the rich cultural and natural resources of their communities.
“Young people in the highlands have unique advantages-deep knowledge of their traditions, close ties to agriculture, tourism, and indigenous wisdom. These are irreplaceable assets,” he said.
Therefore, innovation in ethnic regions means bringing local agricultural products to digital markets, transforming cultural heritage into creative content, linking community tourism with digital platforms, and turning cultural identity into sustainable economic value.
Sung A Tua, Vice Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of Phinh Ho Commune (Lao Cai Province), shared his inspiring story of using digital tools to revitalize his community.
Growing up among mist-covered mountains, he turned adversity into motivation-using videos of ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees and the region’s floating clouds to develop eco-agriculture and community-based tourism.
He created unique experiences such as cloud-hunting and tea-picking, helping every visitor become a storyteller for his homeland.
To end unstable pricing and dependence on fresh tea sales, he founded a cooperative linking 35 households, setting shared standards and paying higher, stable prices. The cooperative now sustainably manages around 60 hectares of ancient tea trees.
To reach broader markets, Sung A Tua connected with social media influencers, hosted livestreams to promote local tea, and used digital storytelling to share the beauty of Phinh Ho. His model has created jobs for over 20 disadvantaged young people and given new hope to his misty mountain community.
Sung A Tua, Vice Chairman of Phinh Ho Commune Fatherland Front Committee, Lao Cai. (Photo by Thach Thao)
Digital tools are also helping ethnic minority students pursue education and research.
Nguyen Manh Duc Dat, a Tay student majoring in Medicine at Thai Nguyen University of Medicine and Pharmacy, shared that technology has completely changed his way of learning.
“There was a time when I thought the gap between my village and the world was too vast. But digital transformation helped me realize that while geography separates us, knowledge can now travel instantly,” Dat said.
Through online platforms, he accessed new learning materials and global opportunities that once seemed unreachable.
Dat later won a Gold Medal at the International Olympiad and Innovation Science Conference held in South Korea.
His success, he said, proves that ethnic minority students-if given access to technology and digital learning-can compete and excel on the world stage.
From remote mountain villages to global science forums, Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Van Ba concluded, all share a common journey: using digital technology to learn better, build stronger communities, and serve their people.
“Digital tools will not erase our cultural identity if we use them to preserve and promote it. Starting a business from one’s own village is not a small choice-it is a great path when young people master both knowledge and technology,” he said.
“The forum today is not only about inspiration but about action. From here, many more ‘digital stories’ will continue to be written in villages across Vietnam.”
Vietnamnet.vn
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