Sipa reveals three-year development strategy

The Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa) has unveiled its latest Software Promotion Strategic Plan, to become a framework for the agency's software-development support over the next three years.

The plan was developed by Sipa's board and management team, working with representatives of seven software-related associations. Officially, the new plan became effective in October and will end in September 2011.

The plan consists of four main strategies: a human resources development plan, improvement of the local software industry's competitiveness, global and local market developments, and encouraging local software businesses to adopt the principles of good governance.

Sipa board spokesperson Manoo Ordeedolchest said the plan followed Thailand's second ICT master plan, covering the years from 2009 to 2013. It aimed to guide the agency's role in successfully supporting the development of the local software industry.

The plan also follows the agency's main mission of "creating people, creating jobs and creating markets" and sets out to develop a software ecosystem in Thailand.

In its human-resource development strategy, Sipa's board has set up a subcommittee to oversee and adjust the curricula of educational institutes in order to produce the "right human-resource types" to serve the software industry efficiently and successfully.

Moreover, it will encourage the attainment of international standards in human-resource development for the software industry as well as supporting the establishment of local software and digital-content research and development centres.

Manoo said that to improve the competitiveness of the local software industry, Sipa would develop a market intelligence and analysis capacity to inform the local industry. For example, it will develop a database of specialists in various areas such as geographic information systems, embedded systems, robot design and Web 2.0.

Meanwhile, it will improve software companies' access to sources of funds, including those at Sipa and at other government organisations such as the Board of Investment.   

"Recently, the Cabinet gave its approval for Sipa to form joint ventures with private sector organisations, and Sipa's board has allocated Bt30 million to an initial joint-investment budget," Manoo said.

The agency is also continuing its emphasis on providing marketing support through several models and programmes such as business matching, software-development contests, opening up the government market for local software and creating local demand by encouraging small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt technology and local software companies to improve their competitiveness.

Sipa also plans to encourage local software firms to adopt good-governance principles both internally and externally.

Thailand's second ICT master plan - on which Sipa's strategic plan is based - aims to create a "smart Thailand" equipped with "smart people" and a "smart government", in the five years to 2013.

The master plan wants about 50 per cent of the population aged over 15 to become more ICT-literate, and to use computers in all spheres of life. It envisages that this will improve the country's ICT readiness so it is better positioned on the world stage, and will increase the contribution of the ICT industry to the country's gross domestic product from 13 per cent last year to 20 per cent.

"All the moves aim to facilitate Sipa's operations to assist local software development. The benefits will belong to the local software industry as a whole," Manoo said.