ETDA as a regulator
ETDA will function as the secretariat of the Electronic Transactions Committee to prepare the Electronic Transaction Strategic Plan and the Infrastructure Standards Development Plan, regulate business related to electronic transactions, and analyse and certify a variety of standards.
The Director noted that when considering the roles of government authorities and the scope of the current digital economy-related laws, the most urgent challenge for Thailand to transform to a digital economy and digital government is the removal of overlapping responsibilities among different authorities. It is evident that laws governing a number of government authorities overlap.
According to the Electronic Transactions Act, which passed the National Legislative Assembly in January, the ETDA is to determine the standards supporting electronic transactions as digital identification and see to their appropriate regulation.
Avoiding redundant roles in the new digital government
In order for a Digital Economy to run smoothly, redundancy of work must be avoided where possible. Thus, the ETDA will work to enhance the quality of management while preventing the duplication of work. This is to ensure that the transition to the digital economy is smooth and that the state’s work model can be easily adjusted to one of a digital government.
However, it is important to note that certain roles, powers and duties among the agencies will still probably overlap. To mitigate the effects of this, the National Legislative Assembly established various standards.
In setting standards, the ETDA might become entangled with other organisations supervising open government and data sharing, including public information disclosure.
ETDA will focus on providing recommendations and standards in the context of promotion while maintaining a secure environment for data protection and security as defined by other laws.
The need to raise the qualifications of service providers and improve coordination among the technical systems of each service provider is considered critical information infrastructure which can affect confidence and trust in electronic transactions.
Regulatory sandboxes
The role of ETDA with regards to Digital Transformation includes promoting the use of innovation for electronic transactions in the management and service of government agencies and the private sector.
Therefore, the ETDA will explore digital technologies, devise necessary recommendations as well as develop prototypes and sandboxes so that the public and private organization management and service provisions remain effective, efficient, secure, reliable, appropriate, and convenient to users in the ecosystem.
Encouraging industry leaders to embrace technology
The ETDA is committed to raising the level of knowledge of digital technology for executives at the national policy level, both from the public and private sectors.
To enable this, the ETDA has set up a course on disruptive technology. The course, called “The Future Economy & Internet Governance Executive Program” (FEGO) is aimed at preparing executives, leaders, members of the public and others for the changes disruptive technology will bring to their work and lives.
The course was developed so as to allow participants to easily exchange, learn and understand technology together with along with younger members of the population in the form of alternate classes.
Important goals of the curriculum include learning to create, edit and disseminate digital content aimed at spreading awareness of the country’s policy decisions in the development of Thailand from the Transformation 4.0 era to 5.0.
