The 1st ASEAN CIO Forum 2012 in Thailand

Anudith  Nakornthap, Minister of Information and Communication Technology of Thailand, presided over the opening ceremony of the 1st ASEAN CIO Forum 2012 in Thailand and said, “  Launching ASEAN CIO Forum is one of the key initiatives of ASEAN ICT Master Plan 2015.  The forum is considered a platform to promote sharing of best practices and collaboration not only amongst ASEAN CIOs, but also amongst government, businesses, citizens, and other institutions.  ASEAN ICT Master Plan 2015 has been developed for the 10 ASEAN Member States to provide a clear strategic direction in order to harness the potential of ICT in establishing the ASEAN Community.”  

 

“Information and Communication Technology (ICT) will be a key enabler for ASEAN’s social and economic integration and drive us towards achieving ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). By developing next generation ICT infrastructure and skilled human capital, promoting content and innovative industries, as well as establishing an enabling policy and regulatory environment, ICT will help ASEAN to transform into a single market.  ICT will also foster greater collaboration between ASEAN businesses and citizens, leading to integration of ASEAN.”

 

“To ASEAN community, a number of opportunities and challenges are lying ahead of us.  I hope that this ASEAN CIO Forum will be the bright beginning of our long, yet prosperous journey to establish sustainable collaborations to engage the business community through public-private partnership (PPP) to achieve our shared common goal of becoming competitive ASEAN community,” said Minister of Information and Communication Technology of Thailand.

 

Chaicharearn Atibaedya, the chairman of CIO16 Association, said “ the 1st ASEAN CIO Forum 2012 is  also  intended to encourage CIOs to realize their roles, prepare themselves and carry out implementations to cope with the changes coming through ASEAN becoming an assemblage in 2015, through operational readiness in individuals' level, changes in laws and regulations, from corporate to national to regional levels. The industrial sector and other businesses have begun planning, working out new tactics   and business models which  could cope with rapid changes and bring about new dimensions - such as new solutions which would yield legal or new technological practicalities - for example - electronic commerce solutions in various kinds.”

 

"In the 1st ASEAN CIO Forum 2012, CIOs from all ASEAN member countries can exchange their aspects, transfer their knowledge and acknowledge key ICT policy from each country, while learning of problems which may arise through working together, in order to strengthen ICT systems in ASEAN countries. The CIO16 has presented here with a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, which would act as a mechanic to materialize these new ideas into action, with ICT acting as a  key tool to enhance personnel's capabilities, procedural efficiency, and cost effectiveness in technology-based investment   to greatest use, in order to accommodate the changes. ASEAN can also make use of lessons occurring in various forms during the setup stage of European Union, to adapt and learn, to ensure better, quicker, cheaper and safer ICT operations with ASEAN Economic Community 2015."

 

"There will be a round-table session in the conference, with CIOs from ASEAN countries welcome to make discussions, to create work ethics and share responsibilities among one another. This may spark a new set of policies to push for ICT implementations together in ASEAN. The activities of the event include open discussions, to exchange ideas from the honored guests, be they key policy makers, leaders, or operators, or business people in ICT and technology, or experts in the ICT industry, who will all share experiences on various ICT-related topics to garner operational readiness in becoming the ASEAN Economic Community 2015, which is an assemblage of member countries which feature both diversities and similarities altogether. The event, therefore, will be a leap forward to utilize and compile all ICT-related resources and   weave together diversities present in ASEAN."

 

As for the topics in the 1st ASEAN CIO Forum 2012, Committee of CIO16 Association Mr. Kumpol Sontanarat, said    that they will cover all ICT-related aspects in ASEAN as a whole: for example, Cloud Computing and Cloud Security, Convergence   of Network, Mobile, Communications and Content Deliver/Providers, Cyber Security, Cyber Forensic,  ASEAN Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) , and education on how to utilize ICT to manage disasters such as tsunami or massive flooding in Thailand  or to work on reconciliation of people from different ethnics in a country and A Few Thoughts About the Future by Microsoft.

 

"These key topics will go in details on 'supports' which focuses on 'cooperation' that would lead to building up good communities using ICT. The participants will also attend exhibitions featuring both latest technology and solutions to  cope with business challenges, threats   or on-demand services. There will be group discussions by experts from each country    to exchange their views, with the aim of building up cooperation within ASEAN and to support each other to  ensure expertise, intelligence and flexibility among CIOs, or to achieve what CIOs are required of by 2015," said Kumpol.

 

Thai IT experts and those in ASEAN will also discuss interesting topics including Royal ICT-relevant initiatives for life     quality of Thai people by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn,  CIOs' visions for readiness: Engaging        the vision of CIOs to prepare ASEAN for a greater future as one community, and Leader’s Note: Towards a Collaborative Government. There are  600 participants from 10 ASEAN member countries expect  to attend.