Government: good governance, accessibility

Economy: e-commerce, enterpreneurship, legislation

Industry: information technology (IT) literacy, research and development, IT applications

Education: human resources, information infrastructure, management

Society: digital divide, quality of life, accessibility

This summary is part of a research project carried out between March and October 2006 in support of the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), one of The Communication Initiative (The CI)'s partners.

IT 2010 lays out the country’s vision of a knowledge-based society, focusing upon raising living standards, increasing international competitiveness, and achieving sustainable economic growth. It encompasses three main aims: developing knowledge-based human capital, encouraging innovation in social and economic systems, and fortifying industry and the information infrastructure.

The following are the three main goals of IT 2010:

• Enhancing the country’s capacity to use technology towards national development;
• Increasing the quantity of knowledge workers to 30 percent of the national workforce;
• Increasing the proportion of knowledge-based industries to 50 percent of GDP.

Below are specific sectoral strategies to achieve the ICT policy objectives:

e-Government

Public sector IT development will primarily focus on back office and front office development with the aim of promoting good governance. Back office development refers to the integration of IT into management of inventory, human resources, record-keeping, finance, and budgetary works. Front office development refers to the provision of citizen services by electronic means, with an ultimate goal of providing 100 percent of services electronically by 2010.

e-Commerce

This policy area intends to promote the use of e-commerce as a business tool in order to increase the competitiveness of Thai entrepreneurs. E-commerce will target trade and services, domestic consumption, and export, focusing particularly on national interests. This will be achieved by establishing a proactive foreign policy; raising awareness of e-commerce activities; streamlining the legislation needed to increase confidence in electronic systems; developing security and payment systems; creating a data management system; promoting subject matter experts; and developing human resources targeted on e-commerce.

e-Industry

The e-Industry initiative aims to develop Thailand’s knowledge-based industries by promoting and developing private sector information technology production and applications by 2010. This will be achieved by implementing a Thailand Exchange; using IT to support industrial development; establishing a Marketing Intelligence Center; promoting Thai IT industry development; encouraging IT literacy in the industrial sector; promoting research and development of the manufacturing industry base; supporting IT applications in subject matter expert development; and supporting IT applications for agricultural sector development.

e-Education

The e-Education policy focuses on developing Thailand’s human resources in order to support the “development of a Knowledge-Based Society.” This will be achieved by creating a management system for IT policy and the administration of education; developing an information infrastructure specific to education that is equally accessible to all; promoting the development of human resources in support of IT; rapidly developing and providing relevant IT knowledge and content; and rendering educational information and knowledge more accessible.

e-Society

This policy thrust focuses on promoting an improved quality of life and developing a Knowledge-Based Society by bridging the digital divide within Thai society. This will be achieved by developing an information infrastructure equally accessible to all; developing human resources skilled in IT; augmenting educational capacity to promote learning within society; creating and supporting opportunities to bridge the digital divide; developing IT systems to support learning communities; using IT to improve the quality of life through dissemination of and providing access to information; and creating a society through IT support of civil society initiatives.

The success of the five policy areas outlined above depends largely upon the supporting industries. The capabilities of the domestic IT industry must be enhanced to ensure its preparation for responding to demands for IT services and products.

Title: Thailand IT Policy Framework 2001-2010: Thailand Vision Towards a Knowledge-Based Economy
Year: 2003
Publication: National Information Technology Committee Secretariat
Click here to download the report in PDF format.

Relevant Links:
IT Direction in Thailand: Cultivating an E-Society [PDF]
Ministry of Information and Communication Technology
Business in Asia.com: Thailand’s Road to Better ICT and Software Industry
UNESCO Bangkok - Thailand ICT
Information Technology Landscape of Thailand
Asia-Pacific Development Information Program - ICT Profile Thailand