back to previous page  The roll-out plan for common information services to all ministries (through test programs in IT Model Office) includes the following: electronic mail (Internet mail, Intranet Mail, Secured official email); government personnel ID card using smart card technology; document dissemination via authenticated work-flow system and official document registration document management system for the cabinet secretariat office to support future paperless Cabinet meeting. directory services (personnel, spatial locations, directory of official documents and databases) highly common applications such as personnel management system, budget planning, word processor, etc. Common specifications for these applications are to be tested in the selected IT Model Offices so that the private sector can take part in GITS projects in the future. Specifications are to be based on open standards to ensure transparency and fair competition among multiple vendors. To assist GITS's mission to support government CIO programme, Nectec Information System Development and Support Division (ISD) is taking part in IT Master Plan committees of many ministries and departments. ISD is also providing consultancy services on IT projects of several government agencies. Through ISD's support, it is expected that by the year 2000, many government applications requiring common entities such as citizen's ID, location codes for a particular district or sub-district, enterprise-ID code, geographical coordinates can be linked across many ministries via GINet directory service. The IT master plan for local governments (provincial level) is also under development. At present, Nectec-ITS supports one pilot project in Phuket. This provincial IT master plan integrates all aspects of IT utilisation within the province. It covers the local economic planning, information infrastructure, education planning, industry planning and maintenance of good environment. Some pilot implementation is now under way. Other provinces may follow the pattern once the model province plan has been reviewed and actions have taken off. Electronic Commerce Development The importance of electronic commerce has been recognised by Nectec and NITC since 1992, when NITC set up a subcommittee on EDI for International Trade. Since then, Nectec has been developing EDI service organisation with the Customs Department, Thai Airways International, CAT, TOT, the Federation of Thai Industry, the Chamber of Commerce, Association of Freight Forwarders, etc. In 1998, a joint venture company called TradeSiam was set up with the private sector as a majority shareholders and the government as the minority. The EDI subcommittee was subsequently renamed "Thailand EDI Council". Nectec is now working on issues relating to electronic commerce in four main areas: developing the electronic commerce framework for Thailand; drafting six IT laws; drafting technical specifications and recommendations and becoming a resource center to run awareness, information centre and human resource development programs on e-commerce. The NITC assigned Nectec to develop an electronic commerce framework to develop recommendations on the roles and responsibilities of government agencies. One of the objectives of the plan is to facilitate private sector involvement in evolving domestic and international electronic commerce arenas. In January 1999, the Cabinet approved a proposal by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment to set up the Electronic Commerce Resource Centre to ensure the smooth development of E-commerce in Thailand through awareness, training programme and information centre. This activity will be part of APEC Virtual E-Commerce Resource Network which was originally a proposal from Thailand. Early awareness of e-commerce applications for small and medium enterprises is crucial for Thailand's future economy. With proper guidelines to SMEs in using e-commerce for export, huge savings can be made on the cost of marketing and sales-related expenses. Also, in retrospect, Thailand-based traders may lose out in the marketing battle right on its own turf if they are not properly prepared for the direct assaults of Internet commerce into Thailand. In March 1999, Nectec's Smart Card working group released the first official draft proposal for smart card application standard for Thailand. The working group consists of more than 50 members from over 40 government and private organisations. The draft has been circulated for public comments to 200 organisations as well as submitted to Thai Industrial Standards Institute for further processing to become the national standard. Smart cards are expected to be a solution for electronic purse and loyalty programme applications. The technology is also suitable for use as intelligent ID cards with a good capability to contain an encryption processor to support asymmetric-key technology for digital signature and secured messaging. TradeSiam: Thailand's National EDI Service Provider The Thailand EDI Council (TEDIC), one of the subcommittees under the NITC, proposed the creation of TradeSiam as a joint venture company between Thai government agencies and the private sector mainly to facilitate international trade. It started a limited pilot service in December 1998. It starts full operation in May 1999. TradeSiam serves as a centre to provide EDI services between government agencies and the private sector. In order to operate efficiently, TradeSiam is managed as a private company where it positions itself as a national EDI service provider with the following objectives: To act as the designated EDI gateway between government agencies and the private sector. To become the major training centre for businesses using EDI, and To coordinate with the Thailand EDI Council in EDI development. As a one-stop service, trading partners will be able to successfully use trading procedures such as Customs declaration, import certification, export license, or electronic funds transfer using the EDI-standard format UN/EDIFACT. TradeSiam will also provide a facility to convert other EDI standards such CARGO*IMP to UN/EDIFACT and vice versa. In addition, it will keep a transaction-log (audit trail) and provide data security and reliable functionality for all trading transactions on a 24-hour basis. Development of IT-laws In late 1998, the NITC empowered six subcommittees to study and draft six IT-related laws. The IT-Law Development project is carried out by Nectec, which is the secretariat office for the six drafting committees. The IT laws will serve as an infrastructure for doing electronic commerce and enhance confidence among the members of the electronic transaction playground while providing rules and etiquette for fair play and will enhance Thailand's competitiveness. The six laws are: Data Protection Law: To protect rights of privacy in the Information Society. Computer Crime/Computer-related Crime Law: To criminalise the new type of the offences in the borderless virtual world. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Law: To set the effective legal framework to support successful electronic contracts. Digital Signature Law: To provide the security of electronic commerce transactions by using asymmetric-key cryptography. Electronic Funds Transfer Law: To promote consumer protection and allocate the liability incurred from the technological risks. Universal Access law (By Law of Section 78 of the Constitution): To create equitable Information Society by promoting universal access in the National Information Infrastructure (NII). Many public seminars have been staged by Nectec and other organisations to promote the awareness of the social effects of e-commerce and call for public opinions. It is expected the drafts of the first three laws will be publicly available in June 1999 and the remaining three coming up a few months later. In addition to these laws, both Nectec and ministry of Justice are taking part in UN's activities on UNCITRAL Model Law on electronic commerce. Conclusion The Thai Government has been implementing several projects to support the economic recovery as well as to meet the forces of change towards e-commerce, telecommunication deregulation, and intellectual property rights. Thailand's own agenda regarding to the development of software industry, IT-laws, Internet for Education (SchoolNet), and the government information network are kept alive even during the hardest economic crisis. High hopes were given to the development of software industry in Thailand through the Software Park project and IPR recognition. Nectec has been a key instrument in making this happen according to the request of the private sectors. Electronic commerce is the second issue of interest, where several key actions have already been started and some of the results are being delivered. The major threat of the Y2K bug is considered a highly significant burden to the hard time we are all bearing. However, through the strong leadership and support of the present chairman of NITC, the best efforts have been made and several "super critical" organisations have been very responsible in fixing the millennium problem well ahead of the year 2000. We still have to continue to work hard in infrastructure development throuth the IT-2000's three pillar scheme. I am confident that they are still the keys to our long-term sustainability. Back to top