Putchapong Nodthaisong, the newly appointed secretary-general of the Office of the National Digital Economy and Society Commission (ONDE), has pledged to push for 5G industrial adoption, a centralised platform for state agencies for tasks related to the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), and a platform prototype for e-signatures and e-documents as key priorities.
"2022 will be a critical year to move towards a complementary digital ecosystem, as the fundamentals have been laid out over the past few years," said Mr Putchapong, who was promoted to the position last month.
The former deputy permanent secretary for the Digital Economy and Society Ministry also indicated ONDE has a clear mission to promote a sustainable economy, improve people's quality of life and increase national competitiveness.
ONDE is working under the national digital economy master plan by focusing on six areas: infrastructure, economy, society, digital government, manpower and digital tech confidence.
Thailand is a leading 5G force in Asean thanks to its first mover status for 5G spectrum licence auctions, held by the telecom regulator in February 2020, he said.
According to a joint forecast by the Office of the National Digital Economy and Society Commission, Time Consulting and Huawei, the 5G-powered economy will reach 2.3 trillion baht by 2035, accounting for 10% of GDP -- a surge from 2.3% of GDP in 2021.
The ultra-fast broadband ecosystem is expected to create opportunities and add value to the industrial sector of at least 1.6 trillion baht by 2035, as well as reduce the public sector's cost by at least 400 billion baht per year, according to the study.
The country's 5G subscriptions are expected to reach 70 million by 2027, or 73% of the total subscriptions in the mobile service market.
Mr Putchapong said the cabinet approved a 500-million-baht budget to support 5G adoption in various fields. ONDE is in the process of drawing up a 5G city guidance so cities can comply to receive 5G city certificates.
The agency is also developing a centralised platform to be used by state agencies for tasks related to the PDPA, such as seeking data consent as well as making data records and reports, he said. Full enforcement of the PDPA is slated for June 1, 2022.
ONDE is working closely with the Personal Data Protection Committee to establish the platform, said Mr Putchapong.
The office wants to formulate a platform prototype for e-signatures and e-documents for state agencies, too, he said.
The prototype requires the approval of the National Digital Economy and Society Committee and the cabinet for adoption by all the agencies dealing with e-signatures and e-documents, in line with the framework stipulated by the Electronic Transactions Development Agency.
