Digital transformation in Thailand should be complete by 2021 or the economy will face falling GDP growth and fail to become a digital economy, says Somkid Jatusripitak, the Deputy Prime Minister.
Strong collaboration is needed between the public and private sectors, especially large enterprises and telecom operators, he said.
Speaking at "Digital Intelligent Nation 2018", a seminar held by Advanced Info Service (AIS), Mr Somkid said the three major factors to drive the digital transformation are: a digital-for-all initiative, a digital-driven economy, and digital warriors who create innovative technologies.
He said the overall economy is good with 3.9% GDP growth last year and 4.1% targeted this year, but the existing domestic economy has been driven by old engines, not innovation.
"Thailand is late to rise in the digital economy world, and progress in the past few years has mainly been driven by private enterprises. We have to work hard to catch up with innovation-driven ecosystems," he said, adding that the next three years will be a critical time for the country as digital disruption is rapid and affects enterprises' operations and consumer behaviour.
Mr Somkid said digital infrastructure must not benefit any special groups but uplift all Thais.
The digital-driven economy is a step to become value-based economy, in line with Thailand's 4.0 vision.
"The sustainable economy in the future must be driven by many entrepreneurs to create better balance rather than relying on the 500 companies listed on the SET," he said.
AIS Wednesday unveiled its stance to adopt digital infrastructure via three new platforms: video, virtual reality (VR) and Internet of Things to fully reinforce the growth and prosperity of the country.
At the event, AIS announced establishment of AIS IoT Alliance Program (AIAP) -- a collaboration between members of all parties involved in IoT including public and private organisations and equipment and software developers to engage in exchange of knowledge and capabilities, products, services or solutions. There are 70 AIAP members.
AIS chief Somchai Lertsutiwong said the growth of the communications industry alone will not be able to fully reinforce the growth of the country. The private sector has to revolutionise its role to become the digital platform for Thailand.
AIS will support the connectivity of all concerned groups working together to form an ecosystem format.
According to AIS, Thais use up to 7.3 gigabytes of data per year and the amount of time spent on the social networks has doubled to 4.8 hours a day.
More than 41 million people watch video on smartphones and 80% of this is local content. Enterprises use cloud as a new standard to enhance operational management.
In addition to AIAP, Play 365 video platform will be introduced in April to offer opportunities for Thai artists to introduce creative efforts without a label. The artists will have access to all Thai consumers and benefit from a proper revenue structure and advertising model that reflects the real number of viewers. The AIS IMAX VR content platform offers opportunities for VR content developers to create content and submit it to AIS. Activities will be organised continuously to support the developers.
AIS has invested some 300 million baht in the three platform developments.