The announcement was made during a seminar in Bangkok convened to launch the World Bank’s recent report The Internet of Things: The New Government-to-Business Platform. More than 150 representatives from the Thai government, international organisations, businesses, NGOs and the media attended.
Thailand’s Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) and the World Bank will collaborate to undertake activities to promote awareness of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the Asian country.
“The Internet of Things is not just a hype. We view it as one of the most exciting pieces of technology of the decade, which will help catalyse digital transformation in public and private sectors in Thailand,” said Dr Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin, president and CEO of DEPA Thailand
“Therefore, we need to raise awareness of IoT in all sectors by providing a networking forum so we all can meet and discuss opportunities offered by this technology as well as ways to allow IoT work for Thais.”
The initiative refers to a digital system involving connected devices that gather data through sensors, transmit it over networks, and generate analytics, the World Bank said.
“IoT has significant potential, but it requires systematic, informed work by the government, private sector, and civil society.
“I hope this study will help examine the progress made in Thailand and encourage further thinking and discussions among policymakers and the private sector on the social and economic impacts of leveraging IoT applications,” said Prasanna Lal Das, lead author of the report.
DEPA aims to promote the development of the digital industry and innovation, as well as digitalisation within all sectors in Thailand.
Policy recommendations in the World Bank report include:
-Improving the knowledge of and familiarity with IoT among government agencies and boosting understanding of its relevance to their immediate functions
-Preparing ‘toolkits’ on how to implement initiatives that include IoT components
-Looking to peers and learning about the initiatives in other countries.
