Ananda, Krungsri unit recognised for innovation

Both companies  were said to exemplify how Big Data analytics and artificial intelligence are used to impact business operations as part of their overall digital transformation journeys.
Ananda Development and Krungsri Consumer beat out over 20 other nominees to clinch the Enterprise Innovation Awards. The awards are given out to local enterprises that have demonstrated an ability to use Internet of Thing (IoT) technology to enhance business operations.
Ananda Development, a publicly listed property developer, highlighted the utilisation of Big Data and artificial intelligence for construction management, inspection and scheduling, leading to a reduction in construction time and cost. A key focus of their digital transformation project is to create a paradigm shift internally among their staff, which acts as a natural defence against future workforce disruption by technology.
Krungsri Consumer, part of the Bank of Ayudhya, developed a propriety system using a combination of geo-location technology and Big Data analytics, which enabled it to deliver targeted and contextualised marketing messages to their customers. This is the second consecutive year Krungsri Consumer has won the Enterprise Innovation Award.
Endorsed by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, the AIBP focuses on Thailand 4.0 initiatives and sheds light on the challenges that local enterprises and public service organisations face in adopting and deploying IoT projects, as well as the latest developments in Thailand’s IoT and information and communications technology industry. The event is co-hosted by the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) and supported by Microsoft Thailand,
IoT projects require the coordination of several segments - from installing sensors, selecting connectivity options and using software to aggregate and analyse the data. 
While large projects implemented by listed companies usually take the spotlight, DEPA has intentions to provide assistance to local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to enable them to compete more effectively locally and in the region.
Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin, president and chief executive of DEPA, said that working with Asia IOT Business Platform will help these local enterprises obtain more opportunities to open new markets at the regional level.

Providing support
“One of our establishment missions is to promote and support local enterprises in their industries and to help them develop new innovations,” said Nuttapon.
Irza Suprapto, chief executive officer of Asia IoT Business Platform, said that there has been strong interest from local enterprises in Thailand to implement digitisation and IoT projects. This demand creates an ecosystem of innovation locally as it encourages investments by technology startups and established solution providers in Thailand. 
“This is further enhanced by initiatives led by DEPA to attract solution providers such as the IoT Institute being built within the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).” said Suprapto.
Somsak Mukdavannakorn, small and mid-market solutions and partners lead at Microsoft (Thailand), said that IoT is a collaborative, multi-disciplinary effort that spans cloud development, machine learning, AI, security and privacy, and presents an immense opportunity to not only create operational efficiencies but to enable increasingly sophisticated enterprises. 
Digital transformation could add as much as US$387 billion to Asia Pacific’s economy by 2021, and business leaders across the region – including those in Thailand – see IOT as one of the top technological priorities in achieving their digital transformation ambitions.
A recently concluded survey by AIBP found that IoT projects are being implemented across industries in Thailand, with varying levels of success. Companies from the industrials segment have reaped the most benefits, with 10.7 per cent of them having benefited from IoT implementation projects. This compares to 8.2 per cent within financial services, 6.8 per cent within retail, real estate and hospitality and 5.9 per cent within distribution, transport, logistics and freight.