Call for digital strategic plan
TO ACHIEVE the aim of driving Thailand's economy through the use of digital technology, the third meeting of the ad hoc Digital Economy Committee led by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered the Information and Communications Technology Ministry t
The strategic plan will replace the existing ICT master plan. Thailand has been currently implementing IT 2020, the country’s 10-year IT development framework. Under IT 2020, there are two five-year ICT master plans – 2011-15 and 2016-20.
Information and Communications Technology Minister Pornchai Rujiprapa said the draft of the digital economy strategic plan was expected to be completed within six months.
It will consist of five main domain missions – hard infrastructure, soft infrastructure, service infrastructure, digital economy promotion, and digital society.
The process of developing the strategic plan consists of three phases. The first phase is to create a focus group about the action plan under the five pillars of the main mission of the strategic plan. The second phase, in August and September, will work on the draft’s details, which will be submitted to the five working committees. And by October and November, the draft is expected to be completed and ready to be submitted to the Cabinet for approval.
According to the strategic plan, related state organisations need to develop what’s stated in the plan; these are among their main tasks.
Under hard infrastructure, there are urgent schemes needed, including the National Broadband Scheme and National Single Internet Gateway. Among the main tasks are the establishment of Fiber Co and Tower Co Management, Government Information Network expansion, G-Cloud and Data Centre Consolidation, the establishment of Innovation Park and Data Centre, and the development of Communication Satellite including Communication System in Crisis and non-Crisis Situation.
Under soft infrastructure, there are eight main bills that need to be completed. They are: Information and Communication Technology Ministry Reform Bill; Digital Economy Bill [consolidation of three previous bills – Digital Economy Committee Establishment Bill, Digital Economy Fund Bill, and Digital Economy Development and Promotion Bill]; Electronics Transaction Bill, Electronics Transaction Development Agency Establishment Bill; NBTC Bill; Personal Data Protection Bill; National Cyber Security Bill, and the (new) Computer Crime Bill.
Currently, only the Information and Communications Technology Ministry Reform Bill has passed first consideration of the National Legislative Assemble (NLA) and it is in the process of developing the new Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, including the organisation structure.
Meanwhile, clauses in the Digital Economy Bill have been revised, especially the one related to the digital economy fund. The Digital Economy Bill has been approved by the Cabinet and will be submitted to the NLA.
Under service infrastructure, there are many tasks to be done, which include the establishment of the Thailand National Root CA; Trusted e-Document Authority; e-Standard; e-Trade Facilitation; Government e-Service Hub; Digital Government Transformation; Public Safety; National Database; and National Logistics.
Under the digital economy promotion, the main jobs are to set up a special digital economy zone, and develop enterprise resource planning for the government. The move is aimed at increasing Thailand’s economic competitiveness with digital and innovation.
The digital society is expected to develop and promote the digital economy in the communities, the main jobs being to develop the digital economy service community centre; promote life-long learning by establishing the digital library; digital knowledge centre, and digital museum of Thailand. It is also concerned with digital accessibility for the disabled, the elderly, and disadvantaged people.
