The indispensable intertwined ties in the digital era
NO ONE can deny the emergence of the digital era affecting almost everyone on this planet, as the actions of specialised companies and products have given people experiences quite distinct from most of what they experienced in their everyday lives before.
At present, Thailand is at the junction of rapid changes and transformations in digital era. Businesses created in this digital world are pivotal to the Thai economy. Hence the government has put lots of emphasis on investment in science, technology and innovation with the goal of elevating almost every aspect of the country’s economic and social status.
In other words, the government is planning to drive Thailand into the next “creative economy”. To expedite these objectives, infrastructure development, technology transfer, and both public and private research and development need to be nurtured and regulated via effective and practical policies on intellectual-property rights (IPR), as this is one of the key mechanisms for sustaining innovation and creativity.
The British government is investing 1.8 billion pounds (Bt90 billion) in digital technology and transformation projects across the public sector over the four years starting in 2015. In addition, it has established the concept of “digital catapults” to help small and medium-sized enterprises innovate speedily and with minimum risk, so that new digital products and services can be brought to market quickly.
This example could be directly adapted to be used in the Thailand Digital and Creative Economy Master Plan.
To help propel the digital and creative economy forward, the symbiotic relationship between digital and IPR has to be well understood. Innovators must be able to protect and benefit from their IPR.
Thailand has developed a National Innovation Policy and Production Strategy embedded in several agencies specifically dedicated to spurring domestic innovation. However, Thailand is widely recognised as having a very poor IP system.
The Global IP Centre of the US Chamber of Commerce put us at No 36 out of 38 economies benchmarked in its fourth annual International IP Index (scoring 7.4 out of 30), which is better than just two countries, India at 37th and Venezuela in last place. The 38 economies measured for the index accounted for 85 per cent of global gross domestic product.
To tackle these shortcomings, the government has continued to invest in all major areas of science, engineering and R&D.
Many measures have been employed to promote private-sector participation in the development of science, technology, and innovation, such as R&D tax deductions, establishment of an equity fund for SMEs and start-ups, development of targeted industrial clusters, and promotion of technology commercialisation.
The goal is to translate academic research into useful products and services embraced by industries in the digital era.
In addition, by hosting the Asia conference of the Association of University Technology Managers last month, Thailand aimed to position itself as one of the leading gateways in Asean to engage in and support IPR opportunities.
Unfortunately, we will never be able to predict the next challenges or technological revolutions. However, we can do our best to ensure that our framework is encouraging growth and innovation, rather than inhibiting them.
While our IP system is at a rudimentary stage, we must cope with the new technological developments that can turn the world on its head. We must view IPR policy as a real opportunity to build a flexible, modern and robust framework that supports the economy, creates jobs and boosts productivity.
To produce a system that works, there must always be a collaborative effort. In the end, we need all possible support to help maintain a vibrant and responsive IP system that serves us all.
Wibool Piyawattanametha is vice director of KMIT Research and Innovation Services at the King Mongkut Institute of Technology’s faculty of engineering.
