The government approved setting aside 3 billion baht this year to finance digital development.
Ajarin Pattanapanchai, permanent secretary of the Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry, said the Digital Economy and Society Development Fund Management Committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon approved a framework to use 3 billion baht in the fiscal 2021 budget to support six projects relating to digital development.
Those projects include plans to apply digital technology to promote education among youth, the elderly and the workforce, as well as building up an IT network in hospitals nationwide to provide better medical services.
Under the digital development plans, the government also aims to use digital technology to promote the agriculture sector and increase the value of products, generating more income for farmers.
Digital technology is also applied under the plan to upgrade government services.
Ms Ajarin said the committee set guidelines for a spending plan of 500 million baht allocated last week to drive 5G technology.
The National Digital Economy and Society Committee's meeting chaired by the prime minister approved last Wednesday 500 million baht from the Digital Economy Fund to develop nine pilot projects using 5G technology.
They comprise seven projects worth 350 million baht, mainly concerning smart farming, smart water management and smart city development in selected provinces, and two schemes worth 150 million to promote the private sector applying 5G technology.
The Digital Economy Fund was established in 2017 as required by the Act on Digital Development for Economy and Society enacted in January 2017. The fund aims to upgrade telecom infrastructure using seed money from the government and state agencies.