Australian university, Ho Chi Minh City join hands to open research, training hub

The inauguration ceremony took place at the Urban Traffic Management Center in the southern metropolis on Thursday last week, and was held alongside the signing of a collaboration plan outlining a shared roadmap to deliver joint research, education, and training programs through the new hub.

Tran Quang Lam, deputy director of the municipal department, underlined that the joint hub reflects the city’s focus on sustainable development and commitment to applying advanced technologies to addressing urban challenges.

“We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with international partners to build smart, livable cities that serve the long-term needs of our communities,” he said.

Professor Yiannis Ventikos, dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Monash University, stated the joint research and training hub represents a platform for impactful and sustained collaboration.

“By bringing together Monash’s strengths in transport, digital technology, and city planning with Ho Chi Minh City’s focus on innovation, we are working together to design smart, practical solutions that meet the city’s evolving needs,” Professor Ventikos said.

“The hub moves us from aspiration to implementation, developing practical responses to urban challenges across Vietnam, Australia, and the region,” the professor added.

The long collaboration between Associate Professor Ngo Duy Dong from the Monash Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the then-Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport led to a memorandum of understanding in May 2024 between Monash and the department.

The deal outlined shared priorities, including digital twin technologies, AI-driven traffic control, data platforms, demand forecasting, and smart public transport systems.

Following the signing, a transport digital twin system developed by Dong and his team was deployed successfully in the city, currently operating across 50 kilometers of traffic corridors.

The system improved traffic flow across these major corridors, reducing delays by 20 percent.

The breakthrough system addresses the unique and chaotic nature of real-world traffic by creating a ‘loop back’ framework that continuously draws live data from the physical environment and uses it to adapt in real time.

The world-first digital twin technology dynamically simulates, analyses, and manages traffic flows, enabling smarter and faster responses to ever-changing road conditions.

Building on this momentum, the new hub will be led by Associate Prof. Dong, and will serve as a collaborative platform for joint research, education, and training in sustainable urban development and smart city innovation.