On May 28, 2023, at the final round of the competition “Initiatives to reduce plastic waste” of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), a research group of Danang International Institute of Technology (DNIIT) – The University of Danang (UD) had an excellent project selected by the judges to be among top 4 funded projects (with a maximum budget of up to 500 million VND) for practical implementation.

The research team includes: Prof. Dr. Le Thanh Nhan – Director of DNIIT – Advisor, MSc. Nguyen Thanh Tuan – Project Manager, Dr. Ninh Khanh Duy in charge of DoNa AI and DoNa Big Data, Dr. Ngo Dinh Thanh in charge of 3T and 3T Market, Dr. Kieu Thi Kinh – Trial and Justification.

Team members of the DNIIT's project.

At the final round, the authors/author groups of 9 best projects selected from nearly 70 projects from all parts of the country have presented and defended against criticisms and comments of experts of the jury board on the action plan, feasibility, and suitability of technological, financial and resource solutions.

Funding selection criteria focus on the compatibility between the implementation plan, financial plan, project management and operation capacity, ensuring the content of the initiative is scientific and effectively applied.

The DoNaSo project “Smart technology solutions to the waste problem” of the DNIIT-UD has proposed an initiative to apply artificial intelligence (AI) to collect, sort and recycle garbage, thereby contributing to reducing pollution caused by plastic waste and protecting the environment for Vietnamese localities, including Hue which is one of the heritage destinations recognized by agencies/organizations to support the project “Hue – a city to reduce plastic in the Central Vietnam”.

Through this project, the research team aims to contribute to raising people’s awareness and responsibility for the waste problem, helping local authorities manage waste more effectively, contributing to the goal of sustainable development of the Central region as well as Vietnam in general.