World’s most wired nation offers guide for Thailand 4.0

[webfact]

OPINION

World’s most wired nation offers guide for Thailand 4.0
By Suthichai Yoon
The Nation

 

BANGKOK: -- If Thailand is serious about becoming a “4.0 nation”, there are valuable lessons to be learned from Estonia, a tiny country of 1.3 million people that has dramatically built itself into a digital wonderland. Estonia is a 5.0 nation while we are still groping for ways to hit 4.0.

 

An 80-strong delegation of high-level Thai executives is planning a visit there after hearing a talk on Estonia by its honorary consul-general Virachai Tejavichitr.

 

“I am sure Thailand can learn a lot from Estonia, the world’s most wired nation with a tech-savvy population,” Virachai told me during a chat on Facebook Live last week.

 

The most striking thing Thailand can learn from Estonia? 

 

Bureaucracy can become a thing of the past.

 

What if you could file your taxes in less than five minutes? Think about possessing one secure digital ID that works for healthcare, contracts, banking, voting and even train tickets. 

 

“Imagine a paperless government. Imagine free Wi-Fi across the whole country. Imagine every stage of lawmaking made viewable online, even edit tracking on bills. Imaging registering a new company in 18 minutes – from anywhere in the world,” Virachai said.

 

But of course, citizens must be given iron-clad assurance that their privacy will not be violated in this “open, smart and transparent society”.

 

In Thailand, the public still struggles to gain even basic access to information about government agencies. The Freedom of Official Information Act is outdated. 

 

Data remains tightly guarded by bureaucrats who still believe that holding on to information equates to power.

 

With the authority to keep information from the public, technocrats can still wield power over ordinary people.

 

In Estonia, though, the law forces officials to provide information, since in a digital nation, citizens consider such access a basic right, not a privilege.

 

Estonia began its innovation drive after breaking away from the Soviet Union in 1991. Back then it lagged behind Western nations in most aspects, especially technology. Natural resources were scarce. Space was limited. But the people of Estonia decided to turn these shortcomings to their advantage.

 

Virachai said: “I asked my Estonian friends about how their country managed to overcome all the barriers to become a shining example of a digital nation. And they told me: with no legacy systems to support, no baggage on their shoulders, and being newly independent, and with a reform-focused government with an average age of 35, they were ready to innovate.”

 

The Internet revolution was just beginning. The young nation could not afford a huge budget to invest in physical infrastructure, so chose instead to make a new start in web-based services.

 

Former prime minister Taavi Roivas said Estonian citizens save two per cent of GDP by signing things digitally. “Imagine if it could go global.”

 

“There is a reason behind each tech-savvy policy,” he said, pointing out that citizens can do practically everything online, from filing taxes to checking their health records.

 

The move also promotes democratic legitimacy. Online voting was introduced in 2005 for the first time. “Simple citizen-oriented solutions means more participation and more democracy,” explained Roivas. Estonian expats in 116 countries can now vote in their election.

 

Estonian tech leaders such as Digital Policy Adviser Siim Sikkut and CIO Taavi Kotka are also creating a whole new model of government. The keyword is “government as a service”.

 

Estonia is a very small country, but size doesn’t matter, Kotka argues.

 

“In a digital world, all countries are the same size,” he said recently – a declaration that made international news.

 

He explained that the services all governments should offer their citizens are the same, and the difference between 8 million and 80 million citizens really just amounts to the number of rows in a database. Cloud-based solutions and virtualisation mean that scalability and big storage are easy now.

 

But has it all been plain sailing? Certainly not. There has been major public concern over privacy from the outset. In 2007, cyberattacks launched from Russia added to security concerns. Meanwhile managing distributed IT from a centralised office has proved challenging. 

 

The secret of success was not to be distracted by initial obstacles. Estonia persisted: The cyberattacks prompted security innovations that shored up public confidence in the drive towards national digitisation.

 

The next step was to leverage its digital advantages across its borders. Businesses and citizens from all over the globe were invited to join Estonia’s digital community. The most striking move was the decision to allow anyone in the world to become an “e-resident of Estonia”.

 

In practical terms, that means businesses can register operations in the country and take advantage of its streamlined tax system and operations. The reactions have been overwhelmingly positive.   According to official records, as of May 2016, 631 new companies had been formed by e-residents. The target is to hit 10,000 new companies by e-residents operating digitally from or through Estonia in three years.

 

The new Estonian model of “Government as a Service” and a global, virtual nation is changing the way the country thinks of itself.

“Citizenship is not the most defining feature of us anymore – rather, community feeling is,” Digital Adviser Sikkut said recently.

 

“What we are keen to explore is to see how we can expand the community of Estonia really to be global through being digital – to make us larger in the world than we otherwise would be.”

 

As Virachai told me: “Thailand, with our own unique legacy and long history, may not be able to copy the Estonian model in all aspects. But if we could begin with thinking about making bureaucracy a thing of the past, that might be an encouraging beginning.”

 

The paradox is, of course, that most of the groundwork for Thailand 4.0 is being carried out by the bureaucrats, while most politicians operate with the short-term goal of getting elected in the next polls.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/opinion/suthichaiyoon/30311446

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-04-06

[canuckamuck]

The basic difference is that the government in Estonia serves the people while Thailand has held on tight to feudalism.

Where is the innovation going to come from when the children are taught only coloring and marching in parades?

[Somtamnication]

You can have fibre optic cables coming out of the toilet, but you will still have the bottleneck in BKK administering and viewing everything before it exits Thailand. 

[AGareth2]

great place for a holiday

[DILLIGAD]

great place for a holiday

The toilet?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[whatawonderfulday]

An 80 strong junket to Estonia. 

[ratcatcher]

3 minutes ago, whatawonderfulday said:

An 80 strong junket to Estonia. 

Then on to Ruritania for another two days shopping............

[Laughing Gravy]

Thailand really needs to be honest and look at itself before starting to emulate or compare with other countries.

3 hours ago, webfact said:

What if you could file your taxes in less than five minutes?

How about people paying taxes first and the authorities checking they do.

Ingrained corruption should be looked at which would take about 20 years plus if they stared today to get rid of. it

3 hours ago, webfact said:

“Citizenship is not the most defining feature of us anymore – rather, community feeling is,” Digital Adviser Sikkut said recently

This is the big problem citizens here don't seem to matter. Just loom at the current political mess as an example.

 

The article whilst positive really is over ambitious and should look at the grass root problems of why Thailand can't be like Estonia or anyone else.

Edited April 6, 2017 by Laughing Gravy

[LazySlipper]

"In Thailand, the public still struggles to gain even basic access to information about government agencies. The Freedom of Official Information Act is outdated. "

 

YES

 

"Data remains tightly guarded by bureaucrats who still believe that holding on to information equates to power."

 

YES YES and TRIPLE YES

 

"With the authority to keep information from the public, technocrats can still wield power over ordinary people."

OMG

 

How true. When confronting BIB or IMMY about laws and asking to see them in writing they are either hiding their ignorance or afraid to show that they are actually improvising laws. Like that thingy in Pattaya where they decided to keep passports for a day or two (highly illegal) while we waited for our extension.

 

Same with land bureau and any faction of the gvt.

 

 

Edited April 6, 2017 by LazySlipper

[yellowboat]

2 hours ago, canuckamuck said:

The basic difference is that the government in Estonia serves the people while Thailand has held on tight to feudalism.

Where is the innovation going to come from when the children are taught only coloring and marching in parades?

True,  an over controlling, overly nationalistic Thai government which does not embrace innovation from abroad and has very few home grown innovators will not be successful.   The 80 strong will have a nice time in Estonia, but that will be pretty much it. 

[DILLIGAD]

True,  an over controlling, overly nationalistic Thai government which does not embrace innovation from abroad and has very few home grown innovators will not be successful.   The 80 strong will have a nice time in Estonia, but that will be pretty much it. 

AKA 'A Jolly'


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[whatawonderfulday]

1 hour ago, DILLIGAD said:

AKA 'A Jolly'


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If I was an hotel owner where the Junta junket mob will be staying then I would be concerned about the theft of pictures based on the record of government employees overseas.

[elgordo38]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

An 80-strong delegation of high-level Thai executives is planning a visit there after hearing a talk on Estonia by its honorary consul-general Virachai Tejavichitr.

Hey Prawit don't miss out on this trip. I am sure they can fit you in their luggage someplace. On the other hand we have the one gateway proposition that seems to have faded away a bit. 

Edited April 6, 2017 by elgordo38

[sawadee1947]

Oh Oh, someone will loose his face.............

[HerbalEd]

16 hours ago, Laughing Gravy said:

Thailand really needs to be honest and look at itself before starting to emulate or compare with other countries.

How about people paying taxes first and the authorities checking they do.

Ingrained corruption should be looked at which would take about 20 years plus if they stared today to get rid of. it

This is the big problem citizens here don't seem to matter. Just loom at the current political mess as an example.

 

The article whilst positive really is over ambitious and should look at the grass root problems of why Thailand can't be like Estonia or anyone else.

And what better place to do that than Estonia. These Thai officials have to start somewhere and seeing the ideal is a great way to start.

Edited April 6, 2017 by HerbalEd

[Laughing Gravy]

5 hours ago, HerbalEd said:

And what better place to do that than Estonia. These Thai officials have to start somewhere and seeing the ideal is a great way to start.

Why not start in Singapore or China as Thailand is often comparing themselves with these two countries, even though they are worlds apart and Thailand is nowhere near in technological terms and probably never will be.