Thailand has steadily improved its position in the United Nations (UN) Digital Government Development Ranking. The country intends to rank in the top 40 on the E-Government Development Index (EGDI) worldwide by 2027.
In line with these ambitions, Dr Suphot Thienwut, Director of the Digital Government Development Agency (DGA), revealed the country’s digital government development plan for 2023-2027, which the Economic Development Council accepted.
The document will guide the country toward becoming a fully functional digital government. This year, DGA has set a significant aim of developing Thailand’s digital government into a modern country (Smart Nation) to improve Thai people’s quality of life (Smart Life). As a result, the government sector must change to stay up with the times.
“DGA want to see Thai people’s quality of life improve. We want Thai citizens to have accessible, comprehensive, and unequal access to public health care. We want to see the business sector operate quickly and seamlessly, increasing organisational efficiency. We want our country to be modern. Keep up with the rest of the world for the sake of all Thais. And we believe that public services that are simple, convenient, quick, and transparent may be provided,” Suphot remarked.
DGA aims to encourage public engagement and information transparency. Connect and build services that are simple, easy to use, and available to the public and commercial sectors as a one-stop shop, all while continuing to improve digital skills for government staff.
In addition, the organisation connects more than 80 public services to deliver services through a unified, simple, and comprehensive channel. Over the last year, the “governmental” application has been used over 3. 8 million times. While SMEs or the business sector have been aided in contacting over 95 licences through the government site, making it easier to open a company.
The DGA will continue to enhance the level of public service work performed by local government entities by the end of 2022. It has launched a local digital system to aid the efficiency of local government workers in offering timely services to residents.
These are examples of how the DGA plays the function of a “Smart Connector” for the betterment of Thai people’s lives. In 2023, DGA aims to support local authorities in 400 locations to advance digital governance with various government institutions.
Furthermore, DGA sponsors the “Connect to Be Better” event to usher in a new era. They are establishing the vision to transform the government into a digital government and a strategy to update the organisation’s image and make co-creation more accessible and connect the government with the public to achieve a valid digital government.
The mission of digital government is critical for bringing the country up to international standards. Therefore, the DGA has been designated the host agency for preparing the digital government integration plan. The proposal was given to the committee assessing the spending for the integrated approach, which Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan chaired.
The meeting authorised 78 projects from 51 agencies, including the money, as part of the plan. DGA offered a budget of 5,523.9 million baht (US$167.60 million). All the information will be forwarded to the Budget Office for assessment to prepare a draught Act on the annual budget for 2024.
Additionally, Suphot encourages DGA employees to have the genetics or DNA of a “Smart Connector” or co-creator and to be ready to work to connect the government with the people to improve people’s lives. DGA is responsible for making government services more convenient for citizens.
