Advanced Info Service (AIS), through its innovation unit Novel Engine Execution Team (NEXT), is gearing up for a competition campaign to select teams that could potentially develop digital solutions to address the country's present crises and trends.
The programme, called Jump Thailand 2021, is the first online hackathon in the country, offering 1 million baht in total prizes, the company said.
The winning teams will be able to partake in AIS NEXT's incubation programme, testing their solutions in the market with a support budget of up to 100 million baht.
Arakin Rakchittapoke, head of NEXT at AIS, said many challenges have arisen during the ongoing digital disruption.
He said AIS wants to invite all groups such as school children, university students, researchers, innovators and experts in every field to participate in the programme.
Participating teams in the Jump Thailand project will be supported with digital infrastructure from AIS as well as collaborations with AIS partners' solutions, said Mr Arakin.
The teams would have the opportunity to access AIS's work processes and technology such as 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, cloud, big data, as well as use of the AIS Playground for prototype testing with real-time networks and innovative environments, he said.
"AIS wants to lead and address the country's challenges by helping improve Thais' quality of life," he said.
Teams can apply for the contest from Feb 15 to March 15. Those selected to join the hackathon will be announced on March 27. The hackathon competition will be held in mid-May.
AIS Next is highlighting five key trends that would profoundly impact individuals, organisations and the country.
The first involves digital identity, in which people will have their digital identity put on various online platforms. The ownership of identity and ease of having digital identity approval will be underscored.
The second concerns digital archive and intelligence initiative. Data drawn from sensors and Internet of Things (IoT) will be stored and analysed by AI, which would shed light on data insights.
The third combines virtual and physical worlds on exchange markets for digital and physical assets. Systems that can accommodate digital data storage would be vital for Thailand.
The fourth uses the capabilities and skills of different groups of people in society. Different training may be provided by those who are digital natives and people who grew up before the internet and other digital devices became ubiquitous.
The trend of micro-learning will be adopted, through which courses for some digital updates will be provided.
The final trend concerns the digital police initiative, which is related to law enforcement in the digital world. Legal actions will be carried out against the misuse of IoT and infringement in the area of cybersecurity.