National high-speed info network; Phuket already in the loop

Legacy Phuket GazettePublished: 09:19, 04 February 2009| Updated: 09:19, 04 February 2009

141 1 minute read

BANGKOK (The Nation): All of Thailand’s government agencies will be able to integrate their information on to a superhighway network within four years in order to increase their efficiency and provide services on a high-speed infrastructure.

Development of the 12-billion baht Government Information Network (GIN) project, which began in 2006, aims to help make the country more competitive.

The executive director of the Information and Communications Technology Ministry’s Policy and Strategy Bureau, Methini Thepmani, said the GIN project was being developed so that all government agencies could integrate and connect their operational processes, services and infrastructure on the same network.

The project has already connected 274 government organisations in Bangkok and has encircled the capital with a network operating at speeds from 2 to 10 Mbps. It is also connected to the Prime Minister’s Operation Centre (PMOC) at a speed of 40 Mbps, and to 35 major provincial offices, such as Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Khon Kaen and Phuket, linking government agencies at these offices to the network at 50 Mbps. Government organisations located outside the provincial office areas are connected at a speed of 2 to 10 Mbps.

Methini said all provincial offices around the country would join the network before the end of this year.

A pilot project is also being developed in which the Nan provincial office is connected with its five district offices. Government agencies at the district offices will be able to connect and communicate directly with provincial head offices such as the Social Security Office and the government financial management information system via a high-speed network. Government officials will be able to hold video conferences and complete complex transactions via the GIN.

“The government plans to connect all 900 districts and all government agencies on the GIN infrastructure within the next several years, aiming to increase the efficiency of government agencies and provide better-quality services to Thai people and to the private sector, by way of e-commerce and e-logistics,” she said.