Completing the unified legal framework for national digital transformation

July 1, 2026 marks an important step in the process of perfecting the institution of science, technology and digital transformation in Vietnam, when the 2025 Digital Transformation Law and the High-Tech Law of 2025 officially come into effect.. 

Requirements to improve the law from the practice of digital transformation

Before the Law on Digital Transformation in 2025 was promulgated, the legal regulations on digital transformation were distributed in various legal documents such as the Law on Information Technology, the Law on Data, the Law on Electronic Transactions, the Law on Telecommunications, the Law on Cyberinformation Security, etc. These regulations lack The overall connection, the lack of a unified framework, the lack of general principles and no comprehensive adjustment of the activities of the national digital transformation process.  

In addition, the High-Tech Law of 2008, after a long time of implementation, has revealed many limitations before the rapid development of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, big data, cloud computing, quantum technology and biotechnology. Many of the regulations in which have become outdated, inconsistent with specialized laws, cannot be implemented or are no longer consistent with reality, which will be a barrier to promoting the development of high technology in the country if it is not promptly amended and supplemented.. 

From the above practice, the 2025 Digital Transformation Law and the 2025 High-Tech Law are promulgated to create a unified legal framework, ensuring digital transformation in the right direction, safety and efficiency, overcoming fragmentation, breaking the foundation, creating a favorable environment for innovation, promoting digital government, digital economy and digital society.

The meaning of the law of digital transformation for the formation of a digital country

The Law on Digital Transformation in 2025 was born to convert policies, programs and goals to convert digital into compulsory, stable and uniform legal regulations.

Previously, many digital transformation tasks were mainly implemented through strategies, programs and plans of the Government or each ministry, branch and locality. When legalized, digital transformation is no longer just an encouraging management task, but becomes the legal responsibility of relevant agencies and organizations.

The law also contributes to clarifying the relationship between the three pillars: digital government, digital economy and digital society. In particular, the State not only digitizes the operation of the administrative apparatus but also is responsible for creating infrastructure, data, standards and legal environment for businesses and people to participate in the digital transformation process.

Another notable point is the national coordinating mechanism for digital transformation. In fact, digital transformation is very interdisciplinary. A platform or database built by one agency may have to be connected, exploited by many other agencies. Without the principle of uniform coordination, the risk of duplicate investment, the data being divided and the unconnected system will continue to exist.

The legalization of the financial mechanism, the development of digital human resources, periodic assessment and publicity of digital transformation results are also important. These regulations form the basis for shifting the focus of management from assessing the number of invested systems or software to assessing the actual efficiency, service quality and benefit level of people and businesses.

The significance of high-tech law on technology autonomy

One of the highlights of the High-Tech Law of 2025 is the emphasis on the concept of strategic technology and strategic technology enterprise.. 

Strategic technology is recognized not only on the modern level but also on the ability to create breakthroughs, improve national autonomy capacity, form long-term competitive advantage and meet the requirements of national defense and security. Enterprises in this field can enjoy high incentives according to the law on investment, tax and land; Strategic technology product production projects may be considered for special investment incentives.

This regulation shows that legal policies are shifting from spreading support to focusing resources on technologies that are decisive for the country’s competitiveness and technological sovereignty.

The law also focuses on the formation of a high-tech ecosystem, strengthening linkages between the state, enterprises, research institutes and higher education institutions. This is a suitable approach, because high technology is difficult to develop if research, training, production and commercialization of research results exist separately.

In addition to financial, tax or land incentives, the value of the law lies in creating a risk-tasting legal environment for research and innovation activities. For new technology fields, research results are not always predictable. Legal policies should therefore encourage testing, long-term investment and controlled testing, instead of just prioritizing projects with clear profitability.