ETDA to splash out Bt535m in digital drive
THE Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) will spend Bt535 million on initiatives this year that will promote the development of the e-commerce sector and digital content and bolster cybersecurity in the country.
The funds will also support the development of a national digital identification scheme as part of the broad range of efforts aimed at working towards the goals of the government’s Thailand 4.0 vision.
Surangkana Wayuparb, executive director of the ETDA, said that on the cybersecurity front the agency would establish new entities, a Cybersecurity Park and a Cybersecurity Operations Centre, in the proposed Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
Backing these efforts, the ETDA plans to train more than 3,000 people to counter cybersecurity threats as part of plans to expand the country’s cybersecurity workforce to 12,000 by 2021, Surangkana said.
According to researchers Frost & Sullivan, IDC, and Gartner, Thailand spent US$212 million on cybersecurity in 2017 and it is expected this figure will increase to US$243 million in 2018.
It is also expected that the country’s spending on cybersecurity will reach US$511 million in 2025, representing 0.07 per cent of gross domestic product.
For the next eight years, expenditure in this field is estimated to total US$23.3 billion, or 0.35 per cent of GDP.
For the e-commerce sector, the agency will offer e-transactions for government agencies, e-tax invoices by email and e-licensing to support its development in the country, Surangkana said. It will also promote an online marketplace for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The agency expects to help about 500 SMEs go online this year in a bid to ensure sustained growth in the country’s c-commerce sector.
For the effort to boost digital content, the agency will develop a platform named Durian, which can support advertising and host tourism reports while providing an online marketplace for the sector.
The digital content platform will be officially announced in June.
For the national digital ID project, the agency is addressing the need for easier ID checks when people in the private and public sectors want to access electronic services.
The agency will officially announce the details of this project in June, Surangkana said.
