The Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry has worked with four Central plains provinces to promote digital adoption to improve their living conditions, particularly during the pandemic.
The four provinces are Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi and Suphan Buri.
Governors of these provinces and relevant agencies pledged their full support and cooperation for the project.
The move comes under the ministry's hand-in-hand digitised community initiative prioritised for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and local communities over three years, in line with the government's digital transformation policy, said DES Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn.
The Digital Economy Promotion Agency (Depa) was assigned the task of speeding up adoption of digital technology and innovation and the use of digital solutions to drive the development of local communities across Thailand as well as level up people's quality of life in rural and remote areas.
The adoption of digital solutions will help solve problems in local communities and enhance efficient community enterprise management, he said.
Since 2018, the ministry and Depa have supported over 900 development projects in multiple aspects, funded by Depa's Digital Transformation Fund.
The projects generated more than 20 billion baht in economic value.
The digital adoption promotion projects are meant to support SMEs, local shops and markets, hawkers and vendors, making sure they have access to digital tools.
Since 2018, 5,492 SMEs and shops have adopted digital platforms and solutions, including e-commerce platforms and point-of-sales technology.
The project also includes digital skill development for people of all ages and covers 10,000 people per year.
Mr Chaiwut said 1,000 startups have engaged in the digital promotion projects since 2018, including 112 under Depa's startup portfolio.
Depa president and chief executive Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin said the agency's goal to ramp up digital technology adoption among local communities has a target of 300 communities by the end of this year.
Mr Nuttapon said in Ayutthaya the enterprise resource planning system will be promoted in the agricultural sector and those involved will be able to reduce management costs and increase productivity.
