ICT Activities in Thailand

1
ICT Activities in Thailand
December 2002
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Government ObjectivesNational IT Policy 2000

• Achieve economic prosperity and social equity
  through
• Building an equitable national information
  infrastructure
• Investing in people to accelerate the supply of
  IT manpower and to develop an IT-literate
  workforce and
• Achieving good governance through the use of IT
  in delivering public services and in government
  administration.

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What has been achieved

• National Internet Exchange Points, where all
  domestic Internet traffic get exchanged without
  going out of the country
• SchoolNet Thailand, a national school
  informatization program to empower all schools to
  access a large pool of information resources
  using the Internet (Internet connectivity for
  some 4550 schools)
• Government Information Network (GINet), a
  government backbone network to facilitate intra-
  and inter agencies communication and
  information exchanges
• Development of legal infrastructure, by
  introducing new laws to support the application
  of ICT in the country.

4
Govnmt Objectives re-focused(Thailand's ICT
strategy 2010)

• E-Society covering issues such as
  digital-divide, quality of life, culture, health
  and public participation
• E-Education includes life long learning,
  computer literacy, human resource development,
  virtual education, etc.
• E-Government including public service via
  electronic service delivery, employment, legal
  infrastructure
• E-Commerce with special focus on "e-services",
  including not only finance, tourism and IT
  services, but also other industries and
• E-Industry focusing on e-manufacturing and IT
  related industries, plus issues such as
  standardization.

5
What lays ahead for UNDP

• Seek appropriate entry point to offer suitable
  support
• Help share and leverage the Thai experiences to
  other nations in the region
• Bridge partnerships with other UN Agencies, the
  private sector, the public sectors and IFIs

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What are some challenges supporting the
implementation of an ICT4D in a MIC

• What should be the role of UNDP in assisting MICs
  in implementing ICT4D
• What are the opportunity cost for not being
  involved directly in ICT4D
• Additional ICT advisors available to help COs in
  supporting Governments in their ICT4D through
  APDIP, SURF, RIM