B G F R O U N D T A B L E · M A Y 1 3 , 2 0 2 6
VNPT to Pioneer AIWS Trust Infrastructure for Vietnam and ASEAN
BGF Roundtable at Harvard Business School Opens a Strategic Path for Trusted AI in the AI Age
Chao Center, Harvard Business School · Boston
May 13, 2026
On May 13, 2026, at the Chao Center of Harvard Business School, the Boston Global Forum convened the BGF Roundtable on VNPT & AIWS Trust Infrastructure, bringing together leaders of VNPT Group, Boston Global Forum, AI World Society, and distinguished professors from Harvard: Jason Furman, Cynthia Dwork, and Tarun Khanna. The roundtable was held as a working lunch session from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM, with opening remarks by Nguyen Anh Tuan and a keynote response from VNPT Chief Executive Officer Huynh Quang Liem.
The event marked a meaningful moment in the growing partnership between VNPT, Vietnam’s leading telecommunications and digital infrastructure corporation, and Boston Global Forum–AIWS, the originator of the AIWS Trust Infrastructure initiative. It also reflected a deeper ambition: to position VNPT as a pioneering force in building trusted AI infrastructure for Vietnam, ASEAN, and the broader AI Age.
Opening Remarks — A New Strategic Path for VNPT
In his opening remarks, Nguyen Anh Tuan, Co-Founder, Co-Chair and CEO of the Boston Global Forum and Founder of AIWS, described the roundtable as more than a discussion. He called it an opportunity “to open a new strategic path for VNPT in the AI Age,” connecting VNPT with Boston Global Forum, AIWS, Harvard Business School, Harvard University, MIT, and leading minds in Boston — “the intellectual capital of the world.”
For Nguyen Anh Tuan, the gathering carried deep personal meaning. He recalled his 21 years of service in VNPT and Vietnam’s Posts and Telecommunications sector, where he was entrusted and encouraged by Minister Do Trung Ta, VNPT’s first Chairman, to develop his abilities in building VietNet and VietNamNet. He also honored the enduring tradition of Vietnam’s Posts and Telecommunications sector: Loyalty – Courage – Dedication – Creativity – Nghĩa Tình.
He emphasized that AIWS Trust Infrastructure is a core initiative of Boston Global Forum and AIWS to build the foundation of trust for the Age of Artificial Intelligence. In the AI Age, he said, technology is advancing at unprecedented speed, but society cannot develop sustainably without trust. AI requires computing power, data, and digital infrastructure; above all, it requires a trust architecture grounded in ethics, safety, transparency, accountability, privacy, security, fairness, and human dignity.
VNPT, he argued, is uniquely positioned to become a pioneering partner in this endeavor. VNPT brings four assets to this mission: national telecommunications and digital infrastructure; technological and cybersecurity capability; deep experience in digital government, smart cities, digital health, and education; and a historic tradition of serving Vietnam through major technological transformations. With these foundations, VNPT has both the capacity and the mission to lead Vietnam into a new era of trusted AI.
Keynote Response — VNPT’s Vision for Trust Infrastructure
In his remarks, Huynh Quang Liem, Chief Executive Officer of VNPT Group, affirmed that building Trust Infrastructure for the AI Age is not merely a priority for one nation or one enterprise, but “a shared mission for humanity.” AI, he noted, opens unprecedented opportunities for economic development, social governance, education, healthcare, security, and creativity, while also presenting profound challenges involving trust, safety, transparency, accountability, and human dignity.
Mr. Liem highlighted VNPT’s historic role in Vietnam’s digital transformation, from pioneering the application of TCP/IP technology to build the VietNet+ Information Highway in 1995 — helping open the door to the Internet for Vietnam — to developing nationwide telecommunications and digital infrastructure. He emphasized that VNPT’s pioneering spirit continues to be guided by the values of Loyalty, Courage, Dedication, Creativity, and Nghĩa Tình, with Nghĩa Tình understood as a uniquely Vietnamese value expressing gratitude, loyalty, compassion, and enduring human bonds.
Today, VNPT operates a comprehensive digital ecosystem, including nationwide telecommunications and Internet infrastructure, advanced data centers, digital technology capabilities, service platforms, VinaPhone’s vast mobile user community, and tens of millions of households using fiber broadband and digital television services. VNPT also has extensive experience deploying large-scale systems for government, business, and society, including digital government, smart cities, national data platforms, public digital services, the National Data Center, national databases, and the National Public Service Portal.
VNPT’s Three-Layer Trust Infrastructure Model
At the technological level, Mr. Liem outlined VNPT’s three-layer model for building Trust Infrastructure:
Physical Infrastructure
Vietnam’s largest network of Tier III and Tier IV certified data centers, described as “digital fortresses” that help safeguard national data sovereignty and AI sovereignty.
Computing Infrastructure
Investments in GPU Cloud and large language models for the Vietnamese language.
Governance Infrastructure
Explainable AI systems that enable humans to verify, supervise, and trust AI decisions.
A Practical Roadmap for Collaboration
Both VNPT and BGF-AIWS converged on a practical roadmap for collaboration. The proposed initiatives include building an AIWS Trust Dashboard to monitor and visualize trust indicators; co-developing AIWS Trust Rating to assess the trustworthiness of AI systems, applications, data platforms, and deployment environments; and implementing AIWS Trust Index to measure trust across critical sectors such as digital government, telecommunications, finance, healthcare, education, media, and smart cities.
These first three initiatives are expected to be piloted within VNPT’s ecosystem, providing a real-world environment to validate and refine methodologies and operational models. Based on the lessons learned, the models can then be standardized and expanded to the national level. Additional initiatives include establishing an AI Trust Lab in Vietnam, developing AI for Public Trust Solutions such as digital content authentication, deepfake detection, personal data protection, cybersecurity, data provenance, and trusted communications, and creating training programs in Trustworthy AI for engineers, managers, businesses, and public officials.
The Harvard Intellectual Foundation
The roundtable was further strengthened by the presence of three distinguished professors: Professor Cynthia Dwork, Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University and architect of differential privacy; Professor Jason Furman, Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers; and Professor Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at Harvard Business School and Director of the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute.
Their perspectives spanned the mathematics of privacy (Dwork), the economics of AI productivity and policy (Furman), and innovation in emerging markets (Khanna), enriching the conversation on what trusted AI requires. Their presence underscored the intellectual depth of the conversation, linking AI trust with mathematics, economics, management, governance, and global development.
Presentation of Honors
The program also included a Presentation of Honors by Governor Michael Dukakis, Co-Founder and Chair of the Boston Global Forum and three-term Governor of Massachusetts. A Plaque of Honor was presented to the Chief Executive Officer of VNPT Group in recognition of VNPT’s innovation, openness, and integration of Vietnam with the world. The book America at 250: A Beacon for the AI Age, co-authored by Governor Dukakis and Nguyen Anh Tuan, was also presented to Mr. Liem.
A Historic Continuation — From the Internet Age to the AI Age
For Nguyen Anh Tuan, the historical symbolism was clear. VNPT and Vietnam’s Posts and Telecommunications sector had heroically pioneered Vietnam’s renewal, opened the path for the Internet in Vietnam, and helped lead the country into the Digital Age. In the AI Age, he said, VNPT now has the opportunity to continue that proud tradition — to lead in building a globally respected brand of technology, innovation, and trust for Vietnam, from Boston to ASEAN and beyond.
For VNPT, the ambition is equally clear. As Mr. Liem stated, if in the Internet Age VNPT helped connect Vietnam to the world, then in the AI Age VNPT’s ambition is not merely to keep pace, but to co-create a future in which AI is more powerful, more trustworthy, more transparent, more humane, and better able to serve humanity.
The roundtable therefore opened a new chapter: VNPT as a pioneering national champion for AIWS Trust Infrastructure, working with Boston Global Forum and AIWS to build practical mechanisms of trust — measurable, verifiable, human-centered, and scalable — for Vietnam, ASEAN, and the AI Age.
| T H E A I W S T R U S T I N F R A S T R U C T U R E P R I N C I P L E
As the AIWS Trust Infrastructure principle, set forth by Boston Global Forum and AIWS, declares: “Trust is not a feature to be added to artificial intelligence. It is the foundation on which the AI Age must be built — mathematically, institutionally, and across nations.” |
Boston Global Forum • AI World Society
AIWS Trust Infrastructure Initiative
Co-Chairs: Governor Michael S. Dukakis · Nguyen Anh Tuan
