On February 1st and 2nd, the Presidents Forum under the theme “Universities as Hubs for AI Research and Development” was held at Kasetsart University (KU), Thailand. The Forum was divided into two working sessions with the participation of representatives of more than 50 universities from many countries around the world.

 

VNUA attends the Presidents Forum on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research and Development

 

Session 1 worked on the theme “Universities’ Choices for AI Education”. In this session, Dr. Brad Birt of Curtin University, Australia presented on “How AI is Changing Higher Education". Following this presentation, the speakers from Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Japan; University of Miyazaki, Japan; National Chengchi University, Taiwan; Kasetsart University, Thailand talked about such issues as the Impact of Technology 4.0, Big Data and AI in the future; the Universities’ preparation of human resources to keep pace with the technological revolution; the Universities’ roles in providing human resources to lead the technology revolution.

 

 
Dr. Brad Birt of Curtin University, Australia presents on “How AI is Changing Higher Education"
 
Many leaders, scientists, and students from over 50 universities around the world attend the Forum

 

Session 2 was under the them “University-Industry Collaboration to Create AI Research and Development Hubs”. In this session, Mr. Chai Wutiwiwatchai, representing Thailand's Ministry of Science and Technology, presented some results in Thailand's National Strategy on the application of Technology 4.0 and big data in socio-economic development in Thailand. The representatives of the VNUA, National Taipei University of Technology (Taiwan), and International Institute of Technology (SIIT), Thammasat University, Thailand also had  their presentations in this session.

 
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Viet Long presents on the opportunities, challenges, and practical lessons in research and application of technology 4.0 and big data in the development of Vietnam's commodity chains
 
The leaders of Kasetsart University and the Forum’s organizers present the drawings which briefly describes the presentation content of the speakers drawn by the University's art students

In the presentation on the opportunities, challenges, and practical lessons in research and application of technology 4.0 and big data in the development of Vietnam's commodity chains, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Viet Long, Vice Director of International Cooperation Office, VNUA, introduced the role of training and technology transfer in Vietnam’s agriculture. Mr. Long also stressed that the strength of trained human resources and the diversity in research field of VNUA is its foundation to implement this technology development in Vietnam’s agriculture. The two outstanding examples which represent the technology development orientation of VNUA and the University’s success in the application AI and other advanced technology are the projects that have been working on supplying disease-free potato varieties and development of the collaboration with honey bee industry. These projects combine the traditional technologies such as variety selection and cultivation techniques with the new technologies such as big data and block chain in commodity chain development. Moreover, Mr. Long shared the opportunities and difficulties in seeking funding for the research programs on the application of these technologies in agriculture and proposed some suggestions to build networks of international universities to search for and invest in training and research on big data technology, AI and Agriculture 4.0.