Thailand’s digital competitiveness falls in world rankings
Thailand Management Association blames shortcomings in technology for drop and urges government to promote development of AI
Thailand’s digital competitiveness has moved down two places from 2023 to 37th globally, according to the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2024 recently published by International Institute for Management Development (IMD).
The Swiss-based institute ranked 67 countries and economic zones globally based on three indicators: Knowledge, technology and future readiness.
Thailand was in 37th place with an overall score of 65.45, while the top five this year are Singapore (100), Switzerland (93.15), Denmark (91.99), United States (91.31), and Sweden (90.42).
Thailand scored 57.37 in digital knowledge (40th globally), 72.72 in digital technology (23rd globally), and 59.26 in future readiness (41st globally). The kingdom improves from the previous year by one place in knowledge and future readiness, but falls seven places in digital technology.
Thailand ranked third in ASEAN region in digital competitiveness, following Singapore in 1st and Malaysia in 36th place globally.
Theeranan Srihong, president of the Thailand Management Association (TMA), said on Wednesday that Thailand’s ranking this year improved only marginally in digital knowledge and future readiness. Thailand also performed moderately in the newly added indicator – computer science education, which points to the need to further improve the curriculum in this subject, he said.
To improve performance in the digital technology aspect, Thailand must promote the development of AI (artificial intelligence) research and innovation in the commercial sector, as well as improve and develop policies and laws related to AI to keep pace with advancements, Theeranan added.
The TMA president urged related authorities to increase the employment of scientific and technical personnel and facilitate the entry of foreign workers with expertise in technology. He also called for the government to improve policies and laws related to patent registration, scientific research, issues related to software copyright infringement, and protection of personal data.
