Building Open Source AI Ecosystems in APEC: Grounded Theory Insights from Vietnam and Indonesia

Open source artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystems can enable more inclusive digital innovation across the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region. This paper examines how Vietnam and Indonesia can build open-source AI ecosystems and how South Korea, the United States, and China can support capacity building. Using grounded theory on policy documents, AI strategies, expert dialogues, and international reports, we inductively derive a framework of four drivers— institutional readiness, developer community strength, policy environment, and international cooperation—and link them to ecosystem maturity. Findings highlight differing trajectories across Vietnam and Indonesia and yield policy insights on open standards, open datasets, capacity building, and risk-sensitive governance.