Chaicharearn Atibaedya, chief information officer of PTT, said the firm is upgrading its information systems to reduce the use of paper. It will train staff in both IT and business procedures so they will be able to smoothly manage business in the future, as 50 per cent of youth staff will eventually become executives. "We are moving from close to real-time business to mobility business," said Chaicharearn.

He said the Smart Organisation concept was divided into five pillars - leadership, innovation, knowledge management, information technology, and operational excellence. "When the firm moves to become a smart organisation, PTT's staff and supply chain will be able to work together, able to enter information and access a high-speed database in real time, anywhere," said Chaicharearn.

PPT has already reduced the use of paper by 80 per cent, with staff able to access information such as pay slips, internal information such as the telephone directory, personnel database and order details. This reduces the cost of investment and operations, he said.

Jirapan Boonnoon

The Nation

jirapan@nationgroup.com