Old mindset cannot halt technology

Old mindset cannot halt technology

"Thailand 4.0" is the buzzword these days. Every few days one hears some kind of seminar or government statement about plans to take the country forward and be at the forefront of the technological revolution taking shape around the world.

But a look deeper into the realities shows a very different side of this public relations exercise that has been ongoing for more than a year. The actions of those in power are very different from the words coming out of their mouths.

The best example came to the public's attention over the past week when reports emerged that Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) had released its terms of reference (ToR) for the bidding for smart traffic signs all across metropolitan Bangkok. The signs, also called Variable Message Sign (VMS) display screens, are seen on many of the main roads across the city to warn drivers about the traffic situation ahead.

Umesh Pandey is Editor, Bangkok Post.

The contract is worth 15 million baht each year for the 40-50 VMS screens installed around Bangkok, but what is interesting is that one of the clauses requires the potential vendor to have an antiquated computer system.

Under the ToR the eligible bidder needs to have a computer system that is equipped with a Pentium chip that went out of production nearly a decade ago. And if this was not enough the computer system to be used also needs to have a slot for floppy disks.

One wonders what the BMA is doing or even if it knows that floppy disks went out of production in 2000. Even a simple search on Wikipedia would show that there were various sizes of these antiquated storage disks from 8 inches in the late 1960s to 3 inches when people like me were in university.

Then came the era of the compact disc (CD) followed by thumb drives and now, in case the BMA is still wondering what technological advancements have taken place, cloud computing.

Such muddled planning shows the calibre of thinking of those in charge of running Bangkok and one can guess why the city has been so reluctant to go digital in its management of many things, including the flow of traffic.

Just a simple reminder. You may recall that not too long ago the traffic police opposed having an automated traffic control system and wanted the chaotic traffic management to remain.

It therefore comes as no surprise that the city remains in the situation it has suffered for the past decade or more in management of problems such as traffic, garbage, drainage and flash flooding after torrential rains each rainy season.

If you thought the problem was limited to the city's administration, you are mistaken. Even the central government seems to be fighting to control global trends. It has gone on the offensive against social media giant Facebook to clamp down on people whose posts are considered to be in breach of the country's laws, but I wonder how effective will they be.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has given Facebook until Tuesday to remove pages that are deemed illegal or its Thai arm and partners will face charges.

It is not known on what legal basis the NBTC or the government can act, but their actions seem strange to most people who know how social media operate.

Even this government knows how difficult it is to control social media after trying to block Facebook on May 28, 2014, just two weeks after the military coup. When the outrage against the blocking of Facebook boomeranged, they quietly blamed it on a technical glitch and have never tried the stunt again since that 90 minutes of outage.

How on earth does the government or the NBTC think it can control the flow of information on social media, especially the flow outside the country?

Maybe the government needs to be reminded that the Arab Spring was partially fuelled by social media and if governments there had managed to control the flow of social media, many dictators would have continued to remain in power.

It is advisable that the government and NBTC try not to make this into a big issue as it will only create a Streisand effect.

The government and local bodies need to realise that the ongoing change in the global technological space is way too fast for anyone to stick to old specifications for procurement or the old mindset to use power to stop the flow of information.

Umesh Pandey

Bangkok Post Editor

Umesh Pandey is Editor, Bangkok Post.

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