Spurring Thailand’s Growth through a World-class Digital Economy

Asst. Prof. Dr. Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin

President and CEO of depa

Thailand has set its sights on becoming the Digital Hub of ASEAN. To achieve this goal, the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (Depa) is sparing no effort to help drive the country toward a digital economy. We are now witnessing relatively fast growth and remarkable achievements in digital economy, but a lot of work is still needed to ensure that digital technology adoption in all social and economic activities is smooth, impactful and sustainable.   

Our role is to serve as a mechanism that can help companies, institutions and communities seize the opportunities and tackle the challenges that come with the development of the digital economy. We provide our assistance to enterprises so they can weather rapid changes in the digital realm and ensure their stability. We aim to help solve pain points and support the country's competitiveness in the areas of tourism, farming, logistics, supply chains, manufacturing and transformation.

We do our utmost to ensure that the country’s technological progress is safe, inclusive, resilient and sustainable. We have joined hands with top tech partners such as Huawei to gear up for 5G, AI, Cloud development and other advanced digital technologies to drive Thailand’s digital economy and competitiveness. As part of this collaboration, we have established “Thailand 5G Ecosystem Innovation Center” or 5G EIC, a sandbox for digital startups and a lab for science data, data engineering and data analytics system development.

Since its opening in September 2020, 5G EIC has welcomed more than 2,000 visitors from government agencies, technical colleges and universities, and private businesses to test, explore and use state-of-the-art facilities. Six training courses have been held to enhance the digital skills of over 1,000 ICT talents. The pandemic forced the public and private sectors, as well as academic institutions, to adopt 5G technology in order to cope with the wave of changes and transition to the new normal. Through 5G EIC, new digital innovations for 5G applications and services were created for various industries in Thailand, providing fresh opportunities for businesses, especially SMEs and startups.

As a driver of digital transformation, Depa has developed a 4-part digital blueprint to cope with rapid changes in technology, the business environment and consumer behaviour.

• The first is to build manpower for the digital era. Depa encourages groups in society to learn digital skills, starting from the very young, to aging people, and also vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities. It partners with technical colleges and universities to develop a rich digital talent pool  
• The second is to transform the economy towards digital development. This includes digitalizing SMEs and businesses in real sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and many others, so they can reduce operating expenses and gain more revenue
• The third is to empower digital communities. By bringing technology and innovation, we will be able to support communities’ own production of goods, raise income and improve quality of life   
• The fourth is to build a digital ecosystem with the right infrastructure. We vigorously promote the creation of a digital innovation ecosystem via Smart Cities, Big Data and Cybersecurity development. We have established the Thailand Digital Valley (TDV) in the Eastern Economic Corridor to provide infrastructure, digital ecosystem and business matching services between large tech companies and startups. Investors receive tax and non-tax incentives so their initiatives can lead to economic, social and environmental developments

In order for Thailand to accomplish its objectives, we must all leverage the opportunities from the digital economy. With diligence, determination and resilience, we will benefit greatly from the waves of transformation, as we strive to improve people’s lives and focus our progress towards sustainable goals. Let us all work together so we can use digitalization as an enabler of growth.