Thai govt urged to play a role in developing skilled digital personnel

According to a DEPA survey, Thailand’s digital industry confidence index in the first quarter of this year increased to 54.1 from 53 in the last quarter of 2023.

“Thai entrepreneurs are welcoming increasing orders from overseas customers, which point to potential revenue expansion. This is owed largely to economic growth in several countries that are target markets,” DEPA president Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin said on Friday.

He pointed out that Thai entrepreneurs were still concerned about the shortage of skilled personnel in the digital field, as well as tardiness in the authority’s policy to address the problem.

“To increase Thailand’s competitiveness in the global digital economy, business operators urged the government to promptly address the personnel problem, primarily by attracting foreign talents to Thailand under a global visa scheme for digital talents,” said Nuttapon.

The DEPA added that Thai entrepreneurs also wanted to see more government support, either in the form of training programmes or advertising campaigns, to promote knowledge, understanding, and adoption of digital technology and innovations among Thais of all ages and professions.

“These campaigns would lead to the advancement of digital technology as well as new career opportunities for Thai citizens, such as digital influencers and digital artists,” said Nuttapon.

The agency also found that some entrepreneurs were concerned about possible disruption from foreign corporations that had developed advanced technology such as foundation models or global generative AI.

“Competing against global companies with substantial capital may be impossible for Thai entrepreneurs, however, we can adapt to the trend by offering infrastructure for collaborative projects,” said Nuttapon.

Thailand needs to accelerate investments in data centres, including cloud and AI infrastructure, as well as increase the value of its data, particularly in agriculture, tourism, healthcare, finance, and public services, he said.

“Furthermore, Thailand needs to embrace the trend of green digital technology, which will open doors for Thai entrepreneurs to compete at a global scale, provided that they have received necessary support from the government,” he added.