imd report

This year, Thailand ranked 27th in competitiveness among 55 countries in the "2008 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook", jumping from 33rd last year.

IMD reported that Thailand lagged behind in research and development (R&D) in science and technology. At present, the country has only four scientists and researchers per 10,000 people and an R&D budget of only 0.28 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). The country must boost its R&D budget to at least 1.5 per cent of GPD within the next 5 years to become more competitive.

National Science and Technology Development Agency president Sakarindr Bhumiratana said the government should offer tax incentives to the private sector, in order to encourage R&D. - The Nation

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on the move

AIS and SCB team up to launch mobile-phone banking service

Advance Info Service (AIS) has teamed up with Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) to launch a new service called SCB Mobile Internet.

The service allows AIS mobile-phone Internet users to operate their bank account anytime, anywhere.

The service package includes money transfers, payment facilities and fund trading. AIS Mobile Internet users who have an SCB account can apply for the service free of charge by calling *900*722#. Those who apply during the promotional period will receive free general-packet radio services for six months. New users can call the AIS call centre at 1175 to receive a free new SIM card. - The Nation

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programming contest

Registration is now open for Google Code Jam 2008

Google has announced that the registration for Google Code Jam 2008 is now open.

Programmers can register themselves at www.code.google.com/codejam.

The top 500 contestants will win an all-expenses-paid trip to the semi-finals at regional Google offices (including Sydney, Beijing, Bangalore or Tokyo in the Asia-Pacific) with the top 100 advancing to the grand finale at Google's California headquarters.

"Google Code Jam is an incredible opportunity for talented computer scientists in the world to come together and compete on the world stage," said Vic Gundotra, vice president for engineering. "Google is proud to support these coders, as they take on some of the world's most challenging programming problems." - The Nation