The Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry has worked with four Central plains provinces to promote digital adoption to improve their living conditions, particularly during the pandemic. The four provinces are Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi and Suphan Buri. Governors of these provinces and relevant agencies pledged their full support and cooperation for the project.
The move comes under the ministry’s hand-in-hand digitised community initiative prioritised for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and local communities over three years, in line with the government’s digital transformation policy, said a DES Minister.
The Digital Economy Promotion Agency (Depa) was assigned the task of speeding up the adoption of digital technology and innovation and the use of digital solutions to drive the development of local communities across Thailand as well as level up people’s quality of life in rural and remote areas.
The adoption of digital solutions will help solve problems in local communities and enhance efficient community enterprise management, he said. Since 2018, the ministry and Depa have supported over 900 development projects in multiple aspects, funded by Depa’s Digital Transformation Fund.
The projects generated more than 20 billion baht in economic value. The digital adoption promotion projects are meant to support SMEs, local shops and markets, hawkers and vendors, making sure they have access to digital tools.
Since 2018, 5,492 SMEs and shops have adopted digital platforms and solutions, including e-commerce platforms and point-of-sale technology. The project also includes digital skill development for people of all ages and covers 10,000 people per year.
It was noted that 1,000 start-ups have engaged in digital promotion projects since 2018, including 112 under Depa’s start-up portfolio.
The Depa President and Chief Executive stated that the agency’s goal to ramp up digital technology adoption among local communities has a target of 300 communities by the end of this year. In Ayutthaya, the enterprise resource planning system will be promoted in the agricultural sector and those involved will be able to reduce management costs and increase productivity.
Pushing digitalisation across Thailand
Recent research indicated that all Asia Pacific markets are becoming more digitally mature, with Indonesia and Vietnam making considerable gains. With no changes in their rankings from 2019, Singapore, Japan, and New Zealand continue to dominate the Digital Observers group. Mainland China, Taiwan, and Thailand, on the other hand, outperformed Korea, Hong Kong, and Malaysia.
The job market has also been affected by automation and new technology, with traditional occupations rapidly disappearing and roles involving the “workforce of the future” promptly rising. Hence, attracting and retaining digitally savvy ‘best talent’ is equally as important.
Another article noted that The Digital Government Development Agency (DGA) is working with 56 local administrative organisations (LAOs) to support them with digital solutions through its cloud platform to enhance their management and operations.
The 56 LAOs are the first batch of more than 7,000 tambon and provincial administrative organisations nationwide that need digital solutions to enhance their services under the government’s local digitalisation policy, according to the DGA.
The 56 LAOs are in 27 provinces across the country that recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation with the DGA.
The DGA President stated that the 56 LAOs are in the pilot group that will be able to handle their service systems through DGA’s cloud platform, covering one point management, electronic correspondence, online construction permits, a system that issues certificates to eateries and online food collection places as well as online garbage fee payment system.
