PM orders all ministries to work out clear digital strategies

BANGKOK, February 8 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha has ordered all ministries to develop clear digital strategies in response to the national economic and social development plan. Chairing a meeting on the issue at Bangkok's Government House on Monday, the prime minister, who is also Chief of the army-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), stressed that the digital strategies should support national development and in line with the upcoming 12th National Economic and Social Development Plan (NESDP), set during 2017-2021), and 20-year national strategies, expressing his hope that the next government would implement the digital strategies. The meeting was also considering a master plan on digital economic and social development, proposed by the Electronic Government Agency, which will be formulated every five years, and the Thai government wants concrete results from relevant projects within mid-2017, covering a national data center which interests the private sector and more than 300 government agencies have already given their opinions on the project. Besides, the meeting was considering a joint pilot project of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the Ministry of Education on integrating their infrastructure and networks. The Thai ICT Ministry plans to install high-speed Internet services at 10,000 locations nationwide, including 7,424 ones at non-formal ducation offices in sub-districts, 2,280 locations at communities’ learning centers and others in remote areas. The ministry also plans to improve free wi-fi services and introduce public high-speed Internet service, dubbed the Smart City Project, in Andaman coastal Phuket Province in the Thai South. The interim government expects to complete eight laws to facilitate its digital economy policies within this year and it will submit the first two of the bills to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) within the first quarter, concerning digital development for the national economy and society and computer crime. (TNA)