The Information and Communication Technology and the Interior ministries are working jointly to launch the first 'Smart City' at Nakhon Nayok as part of the Smart Thailand plan.
The disclosure was made by the ICT Minister Anudith Nakornthap at the annual meeting of Information and Communication Technology Press Club last weekend.
Broadband Internet facilities, including wireless, will be installed throughout the province. There will be free Wi-Fi hot spots as well as 3G and 4G network deployment in order to facilitate people and tourists to stay connected to the Internet while on the go. Some governmental e-services will also be tried out.
He said that though it seems Thailand is quite slow in its move towards making available the 3G network, it will be only the second country to roll out both 3G and 4G networks simultaneously. He explained that 3G will be aimed at the mass market for people to get connected to the Net while 4G will offer premium data network services for niche markets such as telemedicine.
"In the next six moths, we will see our efforts to create a Smart Thailand become a reality. Trials in smart cities is a part of the overall Smart Thailand plan. We also plan to develop and launch many projects in parallel, including government e-services. Recently, the first 10 e-services were launched by the E-Government Service Agency, and free Wi-Fi projects are now ongoing in many provinces such as Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Nakhon Ratchasima," said Anudith.
He said there are many more organisations from the private and government sectors that have accepted and adopted the ICT Ministry's free Wi-Fi scheme through their own pilot free Wi-Fi projects in certain areas. By the end of the year, he expects to see more deployment of free Wi-Fi. He also expects that by the third quarter, after the telecom master plan becomes effective, there will be a 3G auction. Broadband penetration will be increased at that time.
"For example, PTT plans to join the free Wi-Fi scheme. By March or April, at 4,000 PTT petrol stations, there will be free Wi-Fi available for people to get access to the Internet. We are also in talks with the Airports of Thailand to make free Wi-Fi services available at the airport as it will be easy to use and will not be confused with too many service providers as at present," Anudith said.
He added that with the cloud service provided by E -Government Agency would encourage government organisations that do not have their own IT infrastructure to move towards e-government and launch their e-services. ThaiCERT and Cyber Security Operation Center (CSOC) will provide secure e-services to support the move to e-government.
The ThaiCERT Computer Security Incident Response Team provides an official point of contact for dealing with computer security incidents to the Thai Internet community.
"Currently, more than 800 services provided by the government are mostly manual services. Under Smart Thailand, as many services as can be provided through electronic platforms by law will become e-services," said Anudith.
He said the government is on track to making the country Smart Thailand as all elements, including network, cloud, content or services, and security are being done to support the e-government. And Nakhon Nayok will be a pilot project to demonstrate the possibilities of the Smart Thailand initiative.
Nakhon Nayok Governor Surachai Srisaracam said that under the plan to be a smart city, four districts will be entirely connected with broadband infrastructure, both wired and wireless, and it will offer people electronic governmental services. The aim of being a smart city is to increase the province's gross domestic product and the per capita income of the people as well as to expand the groups of people who have the potential to generate income, and finally to increase the happiness of the people. Meanwhile, it also aims to decrease the cost of governmental services.
"We plan to see Nakhon Nayok become a province where people can use government e-services with their own smart card easily, quickly, and efficiently, while tourists can enjoy their trip here with free hi-speed wireless Internet throughout the provinces. Local businesses and farmers can also get benefit from the hi-speed Internet infrastructure and availability of the government's e-services," said Surachai.
He added that on February 17, the ICT and Interior ministries will sign a memorandum of understanding on the Nakhon Nayok Smart City pilot project and then a couple months later there will be tangible outcomes.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Asina Pornwasin
Quelle/Source: The Nation, 07.02.2012
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