Phuket prepares to be ICT city

PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi today presided over a seminar to prepare provincial administrators for the island’s imminent transformation into Thailand’s first high-tech hub, under the Information Technology and Communications (ICT) Ministry’s “ICT City Project”. The seminar, organized by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) and held at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, was attended by more than 500 people from both government and private sectors. The day’s activities were really two seminars in one. Participants were divided into two groups, the first made up of government officials who were given an overview of the Smart Card and E-Procurement systems, both key features of the government’s ambitious plan to turn Thailand into a nation of “E-citizens” able to conduct all transactions with the government using easy “One Stop” service. The Smart Cards will be able to store a variety of data such as personal information as well as tax, driving license and social security numbers, so that just one card can be used for multiple purposes. The second group, made up mostly of members from the private sector, was introduced to the potential benefits to business of adopting innovations in IT technology. Topics included the Internet, teleconferencing, open-source software, and ways to combat computer viruses. In his opening address, Gov Pongpayome said that the necessary groundwork had been laid and Phuket was now well prepared to move forward and meet the goals established by the ICT Ministry during Minister Surapong Suepwonglee’s visit to the island on June 15. “More tourists will come to Phuket and it will be convenient for them to use IT to communicate with their families overseas. Greater use of IT will also increase government transparency and efficiency, while preventing acts such as tax fraud, which is more easily accomplished in manual accounting systems,” he said. He added that a provincial operation center will be established to provide Prime Minister Taksin Shinawatra with accurate, real-time data to be used in decision-making.