Chinese tech titan Huawei Technologies is setting its sights on cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) to cater to rising demand as customers adopt digital transformation.
"Huawei believes all business and industries will adapt to using cloud services within five years," said Abel Deng, chief executive of Huawei Technologies Thailand.
According to IT research firm IDC, Thailand's cloud service market is expected to grow 400% over the next 3-5 years as cloud technology has become a basic infrastructure for digital transformation.
Cloud and AI will be a part of the basic digital infrastructure in the connected world, he said.
Thailand can take a leading role in Asean as a digital hub if it becomes the first 5G adopter in the region, which could potentially promote cloud and big data usage and Internet of Things (IoT) adoption, said Mr Deng.
Thailand is a key market for Huawei, where all four business categories of products and services -- carrier, enterprise, consumers and cloud & AI -- are offered, he said.
"We will continue to invest in the Thai market to drive towards Thailand 4.0," said Mr Deng.
"Cloud technology is a backbone infrastructure, similar to a runway powering efficient data processing that enables other advanced technologies, such as AI, IoT, VR/AR, and 5G, helping foster future-oriented innovative networks," said Piyatida Itiravivongs, president of cloud business department of Huawei Technologies Thailand.
Citing the Huawei Global Industry Vision 2025 Report, she said 85% of all enterprise applications will be cloud-based by 2025. Some 86% of all enterprises will adopt AI technology, and enterprise data utilisation will increase to 80%, Ms Piyatida said.
In Thailand, cloud services will focus on the public cloud synergy use of AI and IoT to enable smart businesses to overcome economic challenges and recovery, she said.
Surasak Wanichwatphibun, chief of technology for cloud business at the company, said Huawei Cloud is the only global cloud service provider to have two data centres in Thailand -- in the Eastern Economic Corridor and Bangkok.
The service also has a local support team and takes local currency payments, he said.
The local data centres can offer the lowest latency and data security protection in line with the Personal Data Protection Act, said Mr Surasak. Having data centres in Thailand offers low latency under 10 milliseconds, 5-10 times better than other international cloud service providers, he said.
The integration of cloud, AI, and IoT technologies can help support the development of "smart city, smart travel, remote work, smart building and agriculture, smart transport and smart grids," said Mr Surasak.