Press release: UK-Vietnam project “Communicating in a disaster” wins prestigious Newton Prize

British Ambassador to Vietnam, Giles Lever, and Vice Minister for Science and Technology, Tran
Quoc Khanh, presented the award in Hanoi on Thursday, 16 November 2017 to the winning lead researchers
Dr. Vo Nguyen Son from Duy Tan University, and his UK-based counterpart Dr. Trung Duong from
Queen’s University Belfast.

Their Newton Fund project, “Building a foundation for sustainable development networked societies
for the cities of tomorrow” designed an integrated heterogeneous wireless system (IHWS), which is
robust in maintaining communications during disasters such as floods, landslides and droughts. It
copes with issues such as physical destruction of telecommunication networks, lack of power supply
and network congestion. The system also provides early warning of natural disasters by detecting
water level, vibration and wind. In cities, the IWHS can detect increases in dust, temperature, noise
and carbon dioxide levels. Academic staff and students from 20 universities throughout Vietnam have
been trained in the system and several leading telecommunication companies are interested in
bringing it into production.

Dr. Trung Duong said:

I am so pleased to have won the 2017 Newton Prize. Natural disasters are a big problem not just in Vietnam but throughout the whole world and the impact is worse for those in remote and isolated areas with no access to the ICT facilities that are essential to providing vital warning information and aiding in rescue missions. This prize money will allow myself and my team to develop the system further and to work with the key telecommunications companies in Vietnam. By doing so we can provide citizens with better warning, measurement tools and education initiatives.

More than 100 people attended the event at the Ministry of Science and Technology, including
researchers, representatives of the Vietnamese government and Vietnamese delivery partners to
celebrate three years of the Newton Fund Programme Vietnam and its growing success in research
and innovation collaboration between the UK and Vietnam.

British Ambassador to Vietnam, Giles Lever, said:

International cooperation with a diversity of ideas,
views and good practice plays a very important role in research and innovation. As a dynamic
emerging economy with a strong vision of the importance of science and innovation in human
development, Vietnam is a natural partner for the global Newton Fund. By working together and
leveraging each other’s strengths, we can achieve more than what we would achieve alone. I am
excited to think about the future possibilities, and look forward to a bright future for the Newton Fund
Programme Vietnam.

The Newton Fund Programme Vietnam is the first formal research and innovation partnership
programme between the UK and Vietnamese Governments. The programme aims to support
Vietnam’s economic and social development through science and innovation as well as recognise
challenges and support Vietnam’s research and innovation to be more impactful. Over the last three
and a half years, the fund has disbursed nearly £5 million and rolled out 35 calls over 15 schemes.
This has resulted in 162 grants that benefit nearly 400 individuals, mostly researchers from 60
Vietnamese and 43 UK research organisations.

The Newton Prize is an annual £1 million fund awarded for the best research or innovation that
promotes the economic development and social welfare of developing countries. More than 150
Newton funded projects, fellowships or other awards applied for the Newton Prize from the eligible
countries for this year – India, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. There are 25 shortlisted
applications in total and five Prizes of up to £200,000 will be awarded to each winner to be used to
advance or develop existing Newton funded work.

The Newton Prize aims to incentivise researchers to participate in the Newton Fund as partners with
the UK, and to work on the most important challenges facing Newton countries. The concept for the
Newton Prize has been developed to demonstrate how UK partnerships with Newton countries are
solving global challenges.

Notes to Editor

The Newton Fund builds research and innovation partnerships with 18 partner countries to support
their economic development and social welfare, and to develop their research and innovation capacity
for long-term sustainable growth. The Newton Fund is managed by the UK Department for Business,
Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and delivered through 15 UK delivery partners, which include
the Research Councils, the UK Academies, the British Council, Innovate UK and the Met Office.
The Newton Fund Programme Vietnam is the first formal research and innovation partnership
programme between the UK and Vietnamese Governments. Both countries have agreed the five
priority areas of mutual interest as health and life sciences; agriculture; environmental resilience
and energy security; future cities; and digital innovation and creativity; falling into three groups
of activities:

• People – Capacity building activities, exchanges and fellowships.
• Research – research collaborations on development topics.
• Translation- Training and partnerships to transfer research into practical development solutions.

For further information contact Ms Dinh Thu Huong, Communication Manager, British Embassy
Hanoi, Tel. 3936 0500 ext 2227; email: dinh.huong@fco.gov.uk
Or visit the Newton Fund website and follow via Twitter: @NewtonFund