The future of data centers in Thailand depends on deregulation and government acting only as catalyst and not directly investing in the sector, a conference heard.
TCC Technology and C-ASEAN hosted a seminar on the future of the data center in Bangkok, with many tech sector speakers calling for a hands-off light touch approach when it came to regulation followed by an afternoon session of financial market regulators that showed a high level of risk aversion and a clear mistrust of public cloud.
Open data a part of plan to become a digital economy.
Thailand’s ICT Ministry will propose to the Parliament that free access to government data be made a constitutional right of citizens, a senior official said.
The ministry plans to submit the proposal within a month, said Sak Segkhoonthod, Chief Executive of the ministry’s E-Government Agency.
Read more: Thailand to call for data access to be citizens’ right
As the government sharpens it focus on ICT, a digital drive is taking shape in Thailand, underpinned by plans that include incentives for investors and improved communications infrastructure.
While the push to accelerate ICT development in Thailand remains at an early stage, several key targets have already been announced, including plans to extend internet access to all households and businesses by 2017 and boost storage capacity.
Shared assets will drive digital economy
The government plans to set up the country's first national broadband firm this year to manage and operate the telecommunications infrastructure assets pooled by the public and private sectors.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Minister Pornchai Rujiprapa said the development was part of the master plan for a digital economy.
The EGA’s president and chief executive officer, Sak Segkhoonthod, told the Nation that his agency specifically wants departments such as the ministries of Labour, Public Health and Education, to get on to the online system because these ministries have a lot of services.
Read more: Thai govt reveals plans to bring 700 services online