The Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA), together with all government sector networks and private organizations held the 1st THAILAND DIGITAL ID SYMPOSIUM 2019, an academic conference under the concept of “Unlocking the Potential of Thailand Digital Economy: International Digital ID Use Cases”.
The forum aims to foster the exchange ideas between experts from both the public and private sectors; both internationally and locally with the aim of developing digital identification and verification systems, or Digital ID (Digital ID).
The Digital Minister for Economic and Social Affairs (DEE) presided over the opening ceremony and said that Thailand is stepping into a digital economy that will focus on online transactions that are reliable, convenient, safe and fast.
The Digital ID is an important digital infrastructure that will help connect identity verification from all sectors together in a single digital system. This will make proof of identity in various transactions via electronic safe, convenient and free of fraud.
Having a digital ID or standard and legitimate digital identification and verification system is therefore important to help fill the holes of these problems. It is an important infrastructure that will ensure identity verification is secure and standardized. Moreover, the Digital ID will help unlock the full potential of Thailand’s digital economy.
The Director of ETDA stated that ETDA is working to promote and support the development of online and e-commerce transactions of the country.
Currently, its role is to supervise electronic certificate issuer and the digital identification and verification service (Digital ID) according to the Electronic Transaction Act (Issue 3 and 4).
The ID Symposium marks an important step in driving the Digital ID. Together with both the public sector, the private sector and the public, the international meeting will open the perspective for all sectors in Thailand to realize the urgent need to have a digital ID.
The event saw foreign experts who pushed to use the digital ID in their respective countries and organisations speak. These included:
- Estonia – the Government of Estonia has been providing access to all of its secure e-services without physical contact for over 20 years via the use of Digital Signatures in ID-Card, Mobile-ID and Smart-ID formats in government services. Their system no longer relies on paper documents.
- India – The Indian Government manages over 1.2 billion people via its sophisticated digital ID program. The system works on a digital identity verification with biometric data to support the management of population data of its massive population.
- Singapore – The Singaporean Government’s mission is to make the country into a Smart Nation. This is being helped by its electronic identity verification. The NDI (National Digital Identity) allows people and businesses to make online transactions which are convenient and safe.
- Malaysia – The Government of Malaysia has invested heavily in digital infrastructure to support the digital economy. It is developing an electronic identity verification system from his concept which is expected to be launched in 2020.
- World Bank – the bank emphasises that digital ID will make the world develop equally. If the world’s population can access the digital system in the same standard and secure way, equality can be instated on a global scale.
The event also had booths wherein companies, organisations and institutions were able to showcase the innovative ways in which digital IDs can be used in the future. Leading public and private agencies such as NDID, DataONE, NCB will jointly drive and help create the Thai digital economy that provides opportunities for all Thais.
