Scientific conference “Anthropology and ethnicity in Vietnam in the digital age”

The workshop was attended by Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Thanh Truong (Vice Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities), lecturers, students, and postgraduates of the University, along with many scientists from the Institute of Ethnology, Institute of Cultural Studies, Institute of Psychology, Vietnam Association of Ethnology and Anthropology, Nghe An Literature and Arts Association, Institute of Vietnamese Studies and Development Sciences, VNU, attending in person and online.
In his opening speech at the workshop, Vice Principal Dao Thanh Truong emphasized: “The global digital transformation process is taking place strongly, with a comprehensive and overall impact on all areas of social life in countries around the world. Vietnam is a multi-ethnic country, with 54 ethnic groups living together. In recent years, the Party and State have placed ethnic issues in a strategic position in the process of building, developing the socio-economy and defending the country. In practice, ethnic issues in the digital age are taking place very dynamically, but also very complicatedly in Vietnam, and need to be discussed properly by scientists and policy makers, thereby contributing effectively to the process of sustainable development of ethnic communities in Vietnam today, with a vision to 2030.
The theme of today's conference "Anthropology and Ethnicity in Vietnam in the Digital Age" is an extremely necessary, topical, and practical issue that provides arguments for the development policy-making process of Vietnam in the current period. The Faculty of Anthropology, as the leading center for Anthropology research and training in Vietnam, will be the unit connecting experts and scientists to continue developing anthropological research directions, interdisciplinary research directions that harmoniously combine theoretical and practical factors. The workshop was conducted in 2 sessions with 6 reports presented directly at the workshop and many opinions exchanged and discussed enthusiastically.
The reports have focused on studying the transformation of human beings in the digital age. These transformations are mainly reflected in the aspects of population, employment and living under the strong impact of science and technology.
Three reports presented in the second session of the workshop focused on analyzing the effects of social networks on cultural identity, activities, and relationships between individuals in a community. The delegates exchanged and discussed enthusiastically and gave many comments and suggestions to the reporters who presented their papers at the workshop. In addition to highly appreciating the elaborate research and scientific value of the reports. However, the scientists also gave some suggestions, hoping that the authors would continue to conduct more in-depth research, related to analyzing the negative impacts of social networks, as well as digital transformation in ethnic communities in Vietnam, especially with ethnic minorities and mountainous areas, foreign communities living in Vietnam, and a part of Vietnamese people residing abroad.          
Concluding the conference, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Van Suu (Head of the Department of Anthropology) thanked the enthusiastic and effective participation of scientists from many research institutions across the country. The reports showed a very vivid picture of anthropology and ethnic issues in the context of digital transformation in Vietnam, which requires research in both offline and online spaces to have a more comprehensive understanding of the cultural, social and livelihood practices of ethnic groups in the current digital age. At the same time, the presentations also suggested many new and interesting research directions. The proposals based on the studies will serve as scientific data for policy makers and managers to refer to in formulating policies related to cultural, economic, social aspects and ethnic policies in Vietnam in the current digital age.