Prime Minister presided over the 2/2015 meeting of Committee for Digital Economy and Society

May 11, 2015, Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha presided over the 2/2015 meeting of Committee for Digital Economy and Society. Attending the meeting were Deputy Prime Minister M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakula, Deputy Prime Minister Visanu Kreu-Ngam, Minister of Innovation and Communication Technology Pornchai Rujiprapa, and committee members. Digital documents were used at the meeting to respond to the digital economy and society policy and to save resources, cost and environment.
Key issues were considered at the meeting as follows:
1. Operation of the Lifelong Learning Working Group: On Lifelong Learning, implementation plan is divided in two. One is for the six projects which are to be implemented with expected outcomes within a year, and another is for the making of a strategic plan for lifelong learning through digital technology.
2. Data Center’s operation: guideline for establishment of the Government Data Center was deliberated in the meeting to ensure security of government works kept in the Data Center. Establishment of a central office will be sped up.
3. Operation of the National Broadband Working Group: communication networks, which are fixed assets of government-regulated agencies, will be co-managed. The NBTC was assigned to implement Universal Service Obligation (USO) project in two pilot provinces, namely, Phitsanulok and Nong Khai. Once the five-year contract expires, assets under the USO project will become National Broadband’s property. A budget of 1.710 billion baht (52 million USD) for the National Broadband Project was also approved, including another 40 million baht for hiring of advisors in accordance with the National Broadband implementation plan.
4. Infrastructure Sharing: the committee approved utilization of infrastructure sharing for the development of national broadband. NBTC is appointed to work on how to implement infrastructure sharing in spectrum auction and telecommunication licensing.
5. Preparation of spectrum auction by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC): On NBTC’s spectrum auction preparation, appropriate frequency bands owned by government-regulated agencies will be auctioned for the 4G service. Compensation conditions are to be provided to these agencies as stated by law.
6. Operation of the Digital Economy and Society Law Monitoring Groups: The Committee also acknowledged progress on the operation of the three Digital Economy and Society Law Monitoring Groups, namely, Digital Economy Promotion and Development Group, Digital Economy Development Support Group, and Security Group.
7. Efficient integration of public sector’s services by sub-committee on public sector development for efficient administration of government services integration: several progresses had been acknowledged, such as, a project on reduction of hard-copy usage for public service, development of one-stop service of public sector’s information centers, development of online transaction for trade and investment project by Ministry of Industry, and document exchange system project.
8. Pilot project for implementation of digital economy and society: the Committee agreed to submit the project’s budget proposal to the Cabinet for its consideration. The project, with a total budget of 3.7 billion baht (122 million USD), will be a collaboration between four ministries: Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Public Health, and Ministry of Science and Technology.
At the end of the meeting, the Prime Minister stressed that Committee members and relevant officers should work to create awareness among the people from all walks of life for them to recognize and understand the benefits of digital development and cyber security law.
Credit : Royal Thai Government