There were a major announcement last week from the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Thailand, aimed at increasing the use of big data across government agencies.
The Ministry of ICT together with the Electronic Government Agency (EGA), National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC) and the Department of Highways signed a Memorandum of Understanding, in order to introduce a model for big data.
Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Utamma Sawanayon, explained that the collaboration is part of the government’s drive to have the nation utilise digital technology on a wider scale and that the project will offer greater convenience to citizens.
The first project involves modeling and sharing real time traffic information from across the nation. The data will be sourced from the Department of Highways. Necessary Cloud storage and information technology will be provided by EGA and NECTEC will develop the system’s software and supplemental applications to enable easy access for the public.
The government plans to digitise many public services within a timeframe of three years. The first step would be to integrate and re-systematise existing data sets from different agencies. More state information and developments will be shared with the public by the end of this year.
The ICT strategy includes the restructuring of public sector agencies’ operations. Chief Data Officers will be appointed for the agencies , with the responsibility of overhauling data management systems. As the use of big data increases, there will be higher demand for data professionals. The Thai government also mentioned a focus on training data scientists, with the requisite specialist knowhow for overhauling and optimising systems.
