Consolidating and expanding e-governance in Thailand-

In Thailand, information and communication technology (ICT) has been used extensively to integrate various government systems in order to exchange information between government agencies and deliver government services to its citizens. The country’s e-governance system was set up more than a decade ago when the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC), a national entity under the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), initiated an e-governance project in 1997. It led to the establishment of the Government IT Services (GITS) to provide network connectivity between government agencies; subsequently, the scope of the project was expanded to cover IT consultancy and services as well.

Later on, the public adopted IT and the internet, which resulted in the introduction of Thailand’s first Electronics Transactions Act in 2001 to facilitate the implementation and use of e-governance and e-commerce. The Ministry of ICT (MICT) was then set up in 2002 with a mission that included the drafting, administration, and management of ICT-related policy and laws.

In 2011, the Electronic Government Agency (EGA) and the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) were established to implement the MICT’s policy. Their areas of focus are the development of e-governance activities and the promotion of secure and safe electronic transactions in all sectors.

Since 1997, the Thai government has developed hundreds of electronic services to respond to the needs of its citizens. In addition, it has sought to use technologies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government operations. Examples of such services are as follows:

  • Services for citizens: Systems for citizen registry (birth, marriage, death, etc.); education; health security; social security; driving licence and vehicle registry; e-agriculture; e-tax; e-passport; as well as registry and services for disabled people.
  • Services for businesses: Business registration; e-tax; along with e-permit and e-licensing. Thailand has also embarked on the National Single Window (NSW) Project that aims to provide integrated import, export, and logistics e-services for both the public and private sectors (G2G, G2B, and B2B) of Thailand, ASEAN, and other countries.
  • Services for government agencies: Services and systems commonly shared across government agencies, including: e-Budgeting system; Government Fiscal Management Information System (GFMIS); government cloud service; Mail Go Thai (government’s central email system); and National Root Certification Authority (NRCA) (for a unified Digital ID service).
  • Services for risk control and management: An e-governance tool to help monitor anomalies in the government and non-government IT systems in order to elevate the service delivery standards. One example is a standard compliance testing service for payment messages called the National Payment Message Standard (NPMS).

Funding, key objectives, and technology solutions

In the area of e-governance, the budget has been allocated for two main areas: the development of physical infrastructure; and the soft infrastructure or the governance of electronic transactions. With regard to physical infrastructure, generous funding has been designated for the construction of the government’s core infrastructure such as networks, a data centre, and a backup centre.

Because all government agencies requested for funding to develop their own infrastructure to support their core missions, this led to redundancy in IT expenditure as well as infrastructure creation. The valuation of excessive infrastructure development could be as high as over 1 billion baht per year. The role of the EGA is thus to manage and reduce infrastructure duplication to lower the government’s IT-related expenditure via core EGA projects. Examples of such projects are:

  • Government information network (GIN): The GIN was built to encourage government agencies to make use of the government’s central network.
  • Cloud enterprise development: A server system and cloud service is available for over 200 government agencies.
  • Smart citizen info: The project effectively integrates data and information from government units to provide services to the general public.

In a nutshell, these projects serve as a solid technical foundation for the delivery of e-governance services in Thailand.

As for soft infrastructure, the government has allocated some of its IT budget for the institution of mechanisms to ensure the security of electronic transactions. Such mechanisms include the creation of the Electronic Transactions Commission to oversee electronic transactions within the country; the creation of policy and operating arms (i.e., MICT and the ETDA) to foster a conducive environment for electronic transactions; the development of appropriate legal infrastructure to ensure the recognition of electronic transactions and take confidence-building measures for parties involved in electronic transactions; and the designation of a framework for regulating electronic service providers.

Key achievements

Here are some of the key achievements in the areas of e-governance over the past decade:

Building physical infrastructure

  • Construction of GIN 2.0: This project incorporated new cost-effective telecommunications and computer technologies.  Network capacity connecting all government agencies (including those in rural and low density areas) was upgraded to ensure more reliability and security. Currently, the EGA is promoting the use of GIN 2.0 among all government agencies.
  • The IPv4-to-IPv6 transition: Currently, the majority of government agencies in Thailand are undergoing the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 in preparation for the next-generation network.
  • Promotion of the next-generation network: Over the years, the EGA has been collaborating successfully with the private sector to promote the next-generation network.

Creating a conducive environment for electronic transactions

  • Introduction of the Electronic Transactions Act of 2001: This act provides a legal framework for the governance of electronic transactions and electronic services. It lays down the groundwork for the legal recognition of electronic transactions, electronic signatures, and electronic evidences. Moreover, it stipulates requirements for recognised e-government transactions and secure transactions.
  • Formulation of cybersecurity policy framework: The ETDA has been at the forefront of developing safe and secure electronic transactions. The agency has embarked on national campaigns to raise awareness about practices related to security threats, standards, and governance.  In addition, it has conducted research and development in partnership with NECTEC to identify technological solutions for ensuring the security of e-transactions. Finally, the ETDA has also formulated  cyber security policy framework that has just been endorsed by the government.
  • Provision of monitoring services for government’s websites: The ETDA has set up a system to help monitor anomalies in the systems and services in order to control security risks. Organisations can subscribe to the monitoring service as an e-governance tool to help elevate their service delivery standards, by augmenting service integrity and availability.
  • Creation of the National Payment Message Standard (NPMS): The NPMS has been developed by the NSTDA and the ETDA in response to the Bank of Thailand’s need for a new standard for payment messages between corporations and banks. This standard is based on the ISO20022 – Financial Services – Universal financial industry message scheme. Currently, the ETDA is utilising a standard compliance  service to test the accuracy of NPMS.

Building human capacity

The following government personnel received training:

  • CIOs and CEOs on the role of e-governance;
  • IT personnel on technical issues such as the IPv4-to-IPv6 transition; and
  • IT security personnel on security issues such as the deployment of Domain Name System Security Extensions.

Impact of e-governance

The effects of e-governance can be observed at three levels. At the macro level, the governance of electronic transactions, via mechanisms such as legislation, the security policy framework, and standard compliance, is creating an environment of trust for citizens to interact with the government and businesses with confidence. Such an environment would thus increase the usage of ICT in general and electronic transactions in particular in the country. Finally, it is necessary for the development and take-up of new ICT services, such as cloud computing in which security is a prime concern.

At the governmental level, projects such as GIN 2.0 have enabled the government to reduce redundancy and improve the efficiency of its infrastructure. The integration of data and information from distinct government units at the backend also improves the seamlessness of service delivery for the general public. Furthermore, e-governance increases the transparency of the operations of the government and its agencies. The EGA is currently developing Thailand’s e-Government Readiness Framework and Open Government Framework to reform, improve, and enhance its e-governance capabilities, with the ultimate goal of benefiting its citizens.

Strategies for expanding coverage of services

The Thai government has a vision to enable “Smart and Open Government for the People.”  It formulated the Four-Year Strategy (2014–17) for e-governance which outlines four key areas: transforming the government’s ICT infrastructure; connecting all government agencies through appropriate mechanisms; collaborating with different stakeholders to promote people’s participation and innovative services; and raising ICT readiness to support the country’s e-governance system.

Thailand has recently adopted a cybersecurity policy framework in order to create a safe and secure cyberspace. For the short-term and long-term future, security will be a key area of focus for all government agencies, especially those who provide critical information infrastructure. Moreover, the ETDA will continue with its security mission by targeting five key areas: capacity building; ThaiCERT (technical and cybersecurity services); NRCA (infrastructure services for secure electronic transactions); digital forensics; and partnerships with internal and external agencies.

Key challenges for the future

The key challenges for the future can be addressed from three perspectives: policy, physical infrastructure, and logical infrastructure. At the policy level, change management is an important issue. This requires the government to rethink its value proposition to build a governance system that includes its citizens in all its processes in order to ensure that the resulting system is aligned with the interests and expectations of its citizens.

As for physical infrastructure, Thailand has been increasing both the coverage and efficiency of its high speed networks at a good pace. However, a holistic approach is still needed to ensure that network capacity (including backup services) and skilled personnel are in place for the e-governance operation to run reliably and smoothly. Another key challenge will be to ensure effective law enforcement.

Last, but most challenging of all, is the logical infrastructure, such as security standards, as well as laws and regulations, which is critical to the long-term development of e-governance. Recognition, awareness, and the adoption of security measures will thus continue to be a key area of focus in the future.

Hugh Thaweesak Koanantakool,

President, National Science and Technology Development Agency, Thailand

(The work is a collective effort of four organisations – The National Science and Technology Development Agency, The National Electronics and Computer Technology Center, The Electronic Government Agency and The Electronic Transactions Development Agency)