History of establishment and development
On July 9, 1994, the General Director of the General Department of Cadastral issued Decision No. 413/QĐ/TCCB to establish the Institute of Cadastral Science and Technology based on the Union of Geodetic and Cartographic Production Sciences, which was established in Decision No. 143/CT dated April 26, 1991, of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers.
On September 11, 1997, the General Director of the General Department of Cadastral issued Decision No. 520/QĐ/TCCB on renaming the Institute of Cadastral Science and Technology to the Vietnam Research Institute of Land Administration (VIRILA) based on the Decision No. 782/QĐ-TTg dated October 24, 1996, of the Prime Minister on arrangement of scientific and technological research and development agencies. The functions, tasks and organisational structure of the Vietnam Research Institute of Land Administration are regulated by Decision No. 45/1999/QĐ-DC dated February 10, 1999, of the General Director of the General Department of Cadastral and Decisions No. 11 /2004/QĐ-BTNMT dated June 16, 2004, and Decision No. 11/2004/QĐ-BTNMT dated June 16, 2004, and Decision No. 942/QĐ-BTNMT dated July 17, 2006, of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.
Vietnam Research Institute of Land Administration was renamed the Vietnam Institute of Geodesy and Cartography according to Decision No. 1238/QĐ-TTg dated September 18, 2006, by the Prime Minister.
Vietnam Institute of Geodesy and Cartography is classified as a Basic Research Institute under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment according to Decision No. 1140/QĐ-BTNMT dated 30/07/2007 of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment. Resources and Environment.
Based on the Prime Minister's Decision No. 767/QĐ-TTg dated June 23, 2008, on non-business units under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, according to which the Vietnam Institute of Geodesy and Cartography is a unit directly under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The functions, tasks, powers and organisational structure of the Vietnam Institute of Geodesy and Cartography are specified in Decision No. 2476/QD-BTNMT dated November 26, 2008, by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.
According to the Prime Minister's decisions, No. 74/QĐ-TTg dated January 13, 2014, and No. 1899/QĐ-TTg dated November 28, 2017, on public non-business units under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, under which the Vietnam Institute of Geodesy and Cartography is a unit directly under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Environment. The functions, tasks, powers and organisational structure of the Vietnam Institute of Geodesy and Cartography are regulated under Decision No. 933/QĐ-BTNMT dated May 23, 2014, and in Decision No. 3482/QĐ-BTNMT dated December 29, 2017, by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.
1.2.  Functions and tasks
Functions and tasks of the Vietnam Institute of Geodesy and Cartography according to Decision No. 3482/QD-BTNMT dated December 29, 2017, as below:
1. Formulate and submit to the Minister for approval of the Institute's development strategy; long-term, 5-year, annual scientific research plan; projects, projects, professional tasks on geodesy and cartography; organise implementation after approval.
2. Research on the scientific basis and geodetic methods to build coordinate and dynamic elevation systems and national geodetic information systems.
3. Research the scientific and technological basis for determining the geodynamic displacement of the Earth's crust; provide a series of data on the displacement of the Earth's crust to serve the prediction of natural hazards; conduct geodynamic monitoring of the territory by the geodetic method in the national environmental and natural resource monitoring network.
4. Research the scientific and technological bases for measuring gravity on land and sea; carry out cyclic gravity measurement on the national gravity network; build a database of gravity and national gradients of Earth's gravity; carry out statistical work on the national gravity system.
5. Research scientific and technological basis for establishing topographic maps, marine cartography, construction surveying, underground construction maps, cadastral surveying, thematic maps, Atlas, databases, geographic information systems and data; develop automated systems in mapping.
6. Research on the scientific and technological basis for geodetic and remote sensing for cartography, natural resource monitoring, disaster prevention, environmental protection, and socio-economic development. , ensure national defence and security.
7. Take part in Research on a scientific basis for the formulation of strategic development orientations, policies and laws in surveying and cartography; take part in formulating the science and technology development strategy of the Ministry; develop standards, technical regulations, technical regulations, economic - technical norms on geodesy and cartography.
8. Research and transfer the technology in geodesy, cartography and geo informatics to serve the investigation, survey, assessment and analysis of the current state of natural resources.
9. Take the implementation schemes, projects and professional tasks in geodesy, cartography, remote sensing and cadastral as assigned by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment; take the implementation of crucial production programs and projects at the state and sectoral levels.
10. Cooperate in scientific Research, application and deployment of geodesy and cartography technology with domestic and foreign agencies and organisations under law.
11. Expertise in the programs, schemes, projects, tasks, and scientific and technological Research on geodesy and cartography as assigned by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.
12. Provide scientific and technological services on geodesy and cartography according to law.
13. Training at the doctoral level in geodetic and cartographic engineering as prescribed by law.
14. Organise the implementation of information activities, and publish science and technology magazines on geodesy and cartography according to law.
15. Organise the implementation of administrative reform, practice thrift, prevent and combat waste, and perform anti-corruption tasks under the Institute's management according to the Ministry's programs and plans and as assigned by the Minister.
16. Manage the organisation, apparatus, employment positions, and structure of public employees according to professional titles and the number of employees as assigned by the Minister and under the law.
17. Manage finance and asset; take the responsibilities of the level III estimating unit for the units affiliated to the Institute according to the law.
18. Make statistics and reports periodically and irregularly on performing assigned tasks.
19. Perform other tasks assigned by the Minister. 

1.      Achievements on scientific research
- Research issues and proposing migration options for lake bed clearance - resettlement to serve in migration and resettlement in Son La hydropower plant (2002) ;
- Implemented the national -level project “Research and build provincial-level land database” in 2005 and develop VILIS software for the establishment of cadastral maps and cadastral records to provide to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. ;
- Research and propose methods to build a national dynamic coordinate system (national spatial coordinate system) based on GNSS technology and International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) (2004);
- Research on the methods for processing GPS measurement data and determine the displacement vectors of the Earth’s crust (spatial displacement, horizontal displacement and vertical displacement) thanks to the automatic geodynamic GNSS network correction method. Due to ITRF. Research on displacement of Lai Chau - Dien Bien fault zone (period 2002 - 2004) and Ma river fault zone using GPS technology (period 2006-2008);
- Research on the methods and contents of land use planning in the period of industrialization and modernization. Build automatic land use planning methods and algorithms. Develop software for land use planning LB (Land Balance) (2008);
- Research on the methods to determine electron density in the ionosphere and total water vapor in the troposphere by processing high-precision GPS measurement data for meteorological forecasting (period 2006 - 2008). ;
- Perform the National-level research “Research on scientific basic to build geographical information technical infrastructure for cooperation in solving some basic problems of Earth Science in the territory of Vietnam, the region and the world.” (2010);
- Research and evaluate the current status of use and determine the direction of investment in technology development in Geography and Cartography in Vietnam (2010);
- Research on methods and algorithms for processing high-precision GNSS measurement data over enormous distances in ITRF. Developing software GUST (Gps Using Sequence Technology) to process GNSS measurement data over enormous distances (period 2006 - 2010);
- Research on and propose a method to determine the change of mean sea surface by measuring absolute gravity on islands (2010);
- Research on the methods to evaluate the accuracy of measuring land plots based on land values (2011);
- Research and develop software to automatically generalize topographic maps at the scale of 1/25,000 from topographic maps on the scale of 1/10,000 (2011);
- Research and apply technology to create maps (topography and cadastral) from images taken by universal cameras mounted on unmanned aircraft M100-CT radio controlled (2011);
- Research on building a modern elevation system based on the local Geoid surface associated with the construction of the National Dynamic Coordinate System. Proposing a method and determining the gravity potential W0 of the local geoid surface Hon Dau (2012);
- In 2012, the Institute presided over and coordinated with units in surveying and cartography to complete the formulation of the Science and Technology Strategy for the field of Surveying and Cartography by 2015 with a vision of 2015. 2020;
- Published 06 scientific and technical books for scientific research and doctoral training (2013-2014)…
2.     Achievements in research and application of modern technology into practice
- Take the lead in the construction of a “0” GPS network covering the whole country in 1995;
- Measure and connect class II leveling lines through the territory of Lao PDR in the period 1999 - 2000. Building a level I, II network and a GPS network in Lao PDR;
- Fly to take pictures of Ha Nam Dinh - Thai Binh area with the RM-KATOP system with GPS navigation in the years 1998-1999, this was the opening work for the flight to create maps using photographic technology. Numbers in the General Department of Land Administration (formerly) and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment today; Proposing establishing cadastral maps by digital imaging technology in mountainous areas;
- For the first time to build a database and synthesize and analyze data on unused land nationwide according to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 90/QD-TTg dated January 27, 2000 on the project “Article inspect and inventory unused land nationwide”;
- Research and propose the structure and construction of a database of provincial-level cadastral records, a provincial-level geodetic information system (with the LOGEOSYS software system (LOCal GEOdetic SYStem) within the framework of the Scientific Research Program at the General Department of Cadastral Administration’s level). the 2000 - 2002 period “Study on solutions to support the provincial cadastral work, experiment in Ha Nam province”;
- Implement the project “Building and completing the national gravity system” with the construction of 11 basic gravity points and 29 Grade I gravity points covering the whole country by absolute gravity measurement method. Built 02 gravity bottom lines Vinh Yen - Tam Dao and City. Ho Chi Minh - Vung Tau with staff resources and equipment of the Institute. For the first time, a gravity database of the lowlands and midlands of Vietnam has been built with standard plots of 3’x3’ including 67,790 gravity points. The completion of the project was ranked by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment as one of the 10 outstanding events of the Ministry in 2012 and was awarded a gold cup by the Trade and Investment Magazine and ranked in the TOP100 “High-quality products” of the year. 2012;
- For the first time successfully built a wetland database in the Dong Thap Muoi area for wetland management according to the Ramsar Convention (2012). The project’s products were awarded the gold cup “Environmentally friendly products” by the Vietnam Association of Environmental Industry in 2013;
- Deploy the construction of a geodynamic geodetic network in the North in the period 2012 - 2015 including 78 GNSS points covering 11 faults Lai Chau - Dien Bien, Song Ma, Son La, Song Da, Muong La - Bac Yen, Phong Tho - Than Uyen, Red River, Chay River, Lo River, Cao Bang - Tien Yen and Dong Trieu - Ha Long for natural disaster forecasting;
- Deploy the construction of a geodynamic geodetic network in the Central, Central Highlands and Southern regions of Vietnam in the period 2014 - 2018, including 78 GNSS points covering 13 faults;
- Deploy to build a system of absolute gravity points by absolute gravity machine FG5-X on 17 islands along the coast of Vietnam in the period 2014 - 2018 to serve the monitoring of the change of the average sea surface under the influence of the sea surface. Affects of global climate change;
- Successfully tested gravimetric flight at Thanh Ba - Phu Tho area on March 31, 2014 with the TAGS AIR III Gravity Meter aerogravity - opening the phase of detailed gravimetric measurements by aircraft;
- Deploy the project of measuring the gravity of the entire forest areas of Vietnam with the TAGS AIR III Gravity Meter, phase 2015-2019;
- Deploy the project of measuring the gravity of the entire East Sea area using the TAGS AIR III Gravity Meter for the period 2015 - 2019;
- Deploy the construction of a wetland database in the Ca Mau peninsula for the period 2015 - 2018 to serve the management of wetlands according to the Ramsar Convention...
         In addition, the Institute of Geodesy and Cartography has taken the lead in  the construction of many normative documents, economic - technical norms of the industry such as :
- Regulations on establishing cadastral maps of 1/200 scale; 1/500; 1/100; 1/2000; 1/5000 and 1/10 000 according to Decision No. 08/2008/QD-BTNMT dated 10/11/2008 of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment;
- The set of economic and technical norms of cadastral survey, registration of land use rights, preparation of cadastral dossiers, and issuance of land use right certificates were issued according to Decision No. 10/2008/QD-BTNMT dated December 9, 2008 of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment;
- The National Gravity Grid Construction Regulations are promulgated according to Circular No. 01/TT-BTNMT dated January 14, 2009 of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment;
- Economic - technical norms for the construction of the national gravity grid issued according to the Circular No. 09/2010/TT-BTNMT dated July 1, 2010 of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment;
- Detailed regulations on gravimetric measurement were issued in Circular No. 08/2012/TT-BTNMT dated 08/08/2012 of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment;
- Detailed economic and technical norms for measuring gravity are promulgated according to Circular No. 24/TT-BTNMT dated September 3, 2013 of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.
      By the contributions and achievements achieved, the Institute has received awards from the Party and State such as Second-class Labor Medal (2014); Third-class Labor Medal of the President (2009); Emulation flag of the Government (2012); Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister (2005); Emulation flag of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (2012); Certificate of Merit from the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment in 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012; and many other certificates of merit awarded by the State to collectives and individuals…