Phuket's It City Plans Put On Hold

[george]

Phuket's IT City plans put on hold

The government will delay some IT projects as part of its Phuket ICT City plan until the island recovers from the damage caused by the tsunami disaster.

The Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa), which has a branch office in Phuket, said some projects to promote Phuket as an ICT city would be delayed because human resources and budget would be allocated to repairing the damage to the island's infrastructure, said Sipa president Manoo Ordeedolchest.

``Some projects might be delayed for three to six months but we will continue our work, including implementing one-stop services for local government agencies,'' he said.

But a plan to promote Internet wireless services among Phuket's major hotels under the banner of ``You are Connected Everywhere'' will be put on hold.

``We planned to work with TOT Corp to link cable lines to hotels in Phuket so that they can provide fast Internet connection through their wireless Internet hot spots,'' he explained, adding that the project aimed to help business visitors stay connected anytime and anywhere. However, the project would be delayed until the situation is back to normal.

In addition, the disaster will also impact the government's aim to promote Phuket as a destination for foreigner companies to set up software houses.

Although tax exemptions and other benefits from the Board of Investment are already provided, it will take time to re-build confidence.

The situation would improve when the government can return the island's image back to normal, he said.

``Even though we realise that a Tsunami will not often occur, building up confidence will take time,'' he added.

He said Sipa would continue its progress in implementing e-government services _ the e-Phuket One Stop Service project. It aims to integrate information and services from different government departments to provide a one-stop service to the public, such as driving licence applications, licence renewals, car registration and bill payments for utilities.

Agencies involved include the Department of Land Transport, the Police Department, the Immigration Department, utilities and banks.

Meanwhile Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Minister Dr Surapong Suebwonglee said the impact from the disaster would be short term. However, because big businesses were hit, small software companies working for them would also be impacted.

``Infrastructure development is still in progress. We believe that the impact will be only for a short period,'' he said.

Sipa's Phuket office has also been using its web site at www.phuketitcity.com to list victims, survivors and missing people. The database is supported by various government agencies.

Another site people can use to make announcements concerning missing people is at missingperson.or.th, which was established by the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec) on December 29. It contains a listing of some 5,000 missing people, pictures and their current status.

For those who want to make donations or get information on the current situation, the official site of the ICT Ministry is ThaiTsunami.com.

--The Post 2005-01-12