ETDA plugs in: Powering up Thailand’s digital economy for 2024

Thailand’s Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) unveiled plans to further its role as a co-creation regulator and promoter next year, aiming to boost the digital economy’s value and generate positive social impact.

The ETDA intends to enhance the nation’s digital infrastructure, focusing on promoting e-document management, improving governance of digital platform services, and leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) for good governance and effective data sharing. Additionally, the agency seeks to develop and refine related laws and standards.

Discussions are underway with the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (NECTEC) about the potential establishment of a national AI centre in Thailand.

The ETDA will continue to drive the adoption of digital ID for the planned digital document wallet and will support the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises through funding. The agency aims to develop 90,000 highly skilled digital workers by 2027.

These initiatives are designed to increase the contribution of Thailand’s digital economy to 30% of the total GDP and elevate the country to the top 30 in the digital competitiveness ranking by 2027, said ETDA executive director Chaichana Mitrpant.

“Thailand is transitioning from a traditional economy to a digital economy. ETDA needs to continue its role as both a co-creation regulator and promoter of the digital economy to build trust in online transactions, improve the country’s competitiveness, and provide a better digital life for people.”

Digital economy

Currently, the ETDA manages crucial digital infrastructure such as digital ID, timestamp, digital signature, and certificate authority (CA) systems. There are 18 million digital ID users, with 449 government e-services already connected to digital ID systems out of 1,626 state e-services. A total of 12 companies hold 16 licences for providing digital ID services.

ETDA aims to equip 80% of government services with digital ID by 2025.

The agency is also contemplating the development of a digital document wallet, which would serve as a digital repository for storing and managing verifiable credentials. These credentials could include information verifying an individual’s identity or qualifications, such as a driver’s licence, educational certificates, health information, or other relevant data.

Moreover, ETDA plans to enhance its oversight of digital platform services. As of September 2024, 1,813 digital service platforms have registered their information in compliance with the digital platform service decree that took effect last year.

Chaichana noted that the agency would enforce the decree more stringently.

“We will analyse the impacts on platforms like ride-hailing and food delivery and also e-commerce platforms to ensure appropriate consumer protection.”

ETDA will also promote AI governance and data sharing to ensure the ethical use of AI and secure data sharing in an AI-based context, Chaichana said.

“Some countries like Singapore have a national AI agency. We need to discuss this with Nectec on the position of Thailand in this regard.”

The agency believes that updating relevant laws and standards to encourage the use of technology and innovation through an innovation sandbox is crucial for progress, reported Bangkok Post.