FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Depa sets budget, explains new projects

Depa sets budget, explains new projects

The Digital Economy Promotion Agency (Depa) has set its budget for fiscal year 2020 at Bt3.5 billion and will submit this to the Digital Economy & Society (DE) ministry by the end of the month for submission by the minister for Budget Bureau approval on August 9.

Depa president Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin said the budget covered both operational costs and the development of six projects costing around Bt2.2 billion, which would begin in October and run through September 2020.
The six projects cover digital start-ups; the transformation of agricultural into smart agriculture; facilitating small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to use digital technology to support their business; developing the smart city data platform; setting up the Thailand Digital Valley and developing 40,000 digital staff to support market demand.
For digital start-ups, the agency will develop digital entrepreneurs in various areas such as edu-tech, tourism tech, health tech and digital technology in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and Internet of Things (IoT).
For smart agriculture, the agency will enable farmers to utilise digital technology to support their farms through, for example, soil and water management.
To assist SMEs, the agency will encourage them to use an open enterprise resource planning platform to manage accounting, inventory control and operation management so that SMEs will able to increase productivity and improve efficiency.
The agency will also set up smart city technology in Udon Thani, Mukdahan and Ubon Ratchathani provinces focusing on tourism while Krabi and Phang Nga provinces will focus on healthcare. The agency will also develop three smart cities in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwas with a focus on public safety.
The Thailand Digital Valley will be a hub of ideas and prototypes for new technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), 5G and software convergence.
The remaining budget on will be spent on an Internet of thing (IoT) institution in Sriracha district and Thailand’s presence at the World Expo 2020. 
“I think that our projects will drive Thailand 4.0 and create competitiveness,” said Nuttapon.

Meanwhile, depa is also working on the “Digital Economy Go 2Gether” project, collaborating with strong partners and supporters to become an important cooperation network for driving the Thai digital economy forward and creating benefits for society.
Nuttapon noted that the project will create cooperation while also promoting and supporting the development of digital technology and innovative industries.

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