Hanoi (VNA) - The Digital Vietnameseknowledge system, an ambitious Government funded open database similar toWikipedia, now boasts more than 10,000 articles, alongside 3.5 million questionand answers following its launch in January.

Of the articles, 3,177 have been published in a’tree of knowledge’ section, which gathers information on a range of subjects andmakes it available for public use. Seven applications have also been madeavailable on the website, including iOS apps and web based apps, which aresubject specific, allowing users to search content according to their needs.

The steering committee of the database said at a recent meeting that 15ministries and State agencies have compiled their ‘list’ of data to be madeavailable on the system’s site (itrithuc.vn). The Ministry of Healthcontributed 8 GB of data, the Ministry of Education and Training contributed 2TB of data, while the Vietnam National University – Hanoi contributed 10,000entries, 15,000 Q&A entries and said another 15,000 are being prepared forpublication.

A number of enterprises have made valuablecontributions to the development of the knowledge hub, by uploading theire-books onto the site, as well as helping with data collection and conversion,translating several world-renowned encyclopedias into Vietnamese, or connectingthe system to different social media platforms and IT forums.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, chairman of the steering committee, said that thesuccess of the project can only be possible with the collective effort of thewhole of society.

“We must spread a passion for science andtechnology, and light the innovative spirits of the whole of society. Theproject’s methodology must be logical, and science-based,” Dam urged.

“The project will help boost the development ofscience and technology, as well as innovation in the country, in a completelynew way,” he said.

The Deputy PM also called for special attention onthe building of open learning materials to help teachers and students to betteraccess quality knowledge.

“The vast number of documents stored at libraries,museums, and in the two in science academies in the country must be digitalisedas soon as possible,” he said.

“All State agencies and local authorities have tobe proactive in uploading data," he said, "Especially ministries suchas education and health, whose data deals directly with the lives of everydaypeople."-VNA