Free up spectrum, boost broadband availability, says Canadian author
Thailand should free up its telecom spectrum, building clusters and entrepreneurs, and make Internet broadband available everywhere, Don Tapscott, CEO of the Tapscott Group and co-author of “Blockchain Revolution”, said.
Speaking at a seminar held by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, the well-known Canadian author suggested that the Kingdom ensure its telecom spectrum is not locked up by a handful of organisations and that it is freely available for education, healthcare, wealth creation and other public benefits.
Pointing out that firms five years old or less are creating 80 per cent of all new jobs, Tapscott said the country should build conditions in which entrepreneurs can flourish.
“Nearly 20 per cent of the students will graduate with a business. They will create products and services that people want,” he said.
Since nations in the digital economy era will need young people who are “digital natives” to move forward, Thailand should also try to boost its birth rate and review its immigration policy, he said.
While the first Internet era led to inequality “that’s behind Donald Trump, the Brexit and a lot of problems that the world has today”, Tapscott said the second generation of Internet, powered by blockchain technology, could come with both promises and perils.
He also described the potential of blockchain, the technology behind the bitcoin, to reinvent democracy, reform education, allow firms to do real-time audit, change the way central banks work, disrupt financial service industry and many other possibilities.
Blockchain will bring the “Internet of value” in which any asset, from money to music, can be sent and stored transparently. It can also introduce a new way for governments to engage with citizens, he explained.
Rather than provide all services by itself, he said, governments could become a platform that releases raw data and lets the public contest for creating value from this data, such as coming up with the best ideas for education reform. The government can also use the technology to conduct digital brainstorming sessions with millions of its citizens.
Digital economy can bring prosperity and joy if the nation can ensure collaboration, intelligence sharing and instil trust among its citizens, like a murmuration of starlings, he concluded.
