All government agencies to be linked within four years

All of Thailand's government agencies will be able to integrate their information on to a superhighway network within four years in order to increase their efficiency and provide services on a high-speed infrastructure.

Development of the Bt12-billion Government Information Network (GIN) project, which began in 2006, aims to help make the country more competitive. 

The executive director of the Information and Communications Technology Ministry's Policy and Strategy Bureau, Methini Thepmani, said the GIN project was being developed so that all government agencies could integrate and connect their operational processes, services and infrastructure on the same network.

The project has already connected 274 government organisations in Bangkok and has encircled the capital with a network operating at speeds from 2 to 10 Mbps. It is also connected to the Prime Minister's Operation Centre (PMOC) at a speed of 40 Mbps, and to 35 major provincial offices such as Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Khon Kaen and Phuket, linking government agencies located at provincial offices to the network at 50 Mbps. Government organisations located outside the provincial office areas are connected at a speed of 2 to 10 Mbps.

Methini said all provincial offices around the country would join the network before the end of this year.

A pilot project is also being developed in which the Nan provincial office is connected with its five district offices. Government agencies at the district offices will be able to connect and communicate directly with provincial head offices such as the Social Security Office and the government financial management information system via a high-speed network. Government officials will be able to hold video conferences and complete complex transactions via the GIN.

"The government plans to connect all 900 districts and all government agencies on the GIN infrastructure within the next several years, aiming to increase the efficiency of government agencies and provide better-quality services to Thai people and to the private sector, by way of e-commerce and e-logistics," she said.

Moreover, the GIN will be developed to support IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) so that so that all government agencies will able to migrate their infrastructure based on the next-generation Internet Layer protocol for packet-switched internetworks and the Internet.

Methini said the government also planned to develop the country's ICT infrastructure and to boost local ICT research and development. The aim was to increase the ICT literacy of Thai people and create opportunities for new ICT industries.

Infrastructure development would include the likes of a next-generation network to support both the private and government sectors. ICT use will be increased, broadband costs will be lowered, information literacy will increase and fixed-line installment costs will be reduced for both government agencies and the private sector.

Meanwhile, the government is also working on a "Smart Thailand" plan, providing for further modernizing of infrastructure to create a next-generation network. A roadmap is being prepared involving IPv6 to provide for government-to-government transactions. It is divided into three areas: infrastructure development, promotion of industry investment and increasing accessibility opportunities.

Under infrastructure development, the government plans to increase Internet accessibility under the sufficiency economy theory. Promoting industry investment will enhance Thailand's industrial competitiveness, and increasing accessibility opportunities will mean working for equality and reducing the opportunity gap between people in metropolitan areas and those in remote parts of the country.

Methini said the government also had an "ICT Master Plan 2", covering the years from 2009 to 2014. The Master Plan 2 covers six strategies, including the promotion of human resource development in ICT use, ICT governance management, development of Thailand's ICT infrastructure, ICT governance usage, enhancement of Thailand's industrial competitiveness and promotion of ICT use to increase competitiveness capabilities, so that value will be added on top of ICT infrastructure.

At the same time, the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec) has developed a Thailand Information Superhighway Testbed Project, which is aimed at providing multimedia, information and knowledge to businesses, homes and communities via a high-speed network.

The Thailand Information Superhighway Testbed is a joint project between Thai public- and private-sector organisations. A high speed network based on asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) technology is planned, linking some strategic government and business sites. The network will be used as a research and experimental testbed to help come up with technical specifications and guidelines for development of a Thailand Information Superhighway.