Intervention Mr. Surapong Suebwonglee. Minister of Information and Communications Technology of Thailand

Transcription

1 Intervention Mr. Surapong Suebwonglee Minister of Information and Communications Technology of Thailand The Challenges of Shaping the Knowledge Society Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, The past year has seen much progress in Thailand. October 2002 saw the inception of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology. April saw the launch of our government portal, ecitizen.go.th. Later in the year we have seen the now famous Budget PC programme and Clean Net, the inexpensive, clean ISP. More recently the Ministry has set up SIPA, the Software Industry Promotion Agency, the Office of Knowledge Management and Development and GoodNet - turning Internet Cafes into centres for e- Education and e-commerce. Early next year we have the launch of the first stage of the smart ID card project, affordable nationwide broadband and perhaps the beginning of truly universal access through ICTs through cellular data in conjunction with traditional Internet connected computers.

2 2 But the headlines in the newspapers are project-based, technology based. We need to take a step back and look at how each project has affected the people of Thailand and, indeed, how it has sent repercussions throughout the world. Universal Access to Information One basic tenet of the knowledge society is provision of universal access to information. Access to the Internet is not the end goal, but it is a prerequisite if we are to talk about the knowledge society. To this end, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology has launched a number of projects aiming at pushing access as far as it can go. We have CATNet, a network of 751 telecentres situated in Post Offices throughout the country. We have tambon dot net and schoolnet, provincial and school based Internet access projects and, through collaboration with Canada's CIDA, a pilot study focused on finding the winning formula for how a community-based telecentre should be operated. Broadband Internet tariffs will also be lowered dramatically next January for both usage and installation. We expect number of broadband Internet subscribers will increase from the almost insignificant number of 12,000 subscribers now to one million subscribers by the end of We are also working on GoodNet, turning Internet Cafes into clean, active centres connected by broadband Internet for learning and training. Students and people from all walks of life can learn how to use various programs such as Microsoft Office, Desktop Publishing or even 3D animation at cost of only cents per hour. 300 GoodN et centres will operate in the community throughout country starting on December 15, and we expect the number of GoodNet will increase to 2,500 within one year. Yet, despite these projects, Internet penetration is still hovering at around six million people or ten percent of the population. This is at a time when Thailand has 21 million mobile phone subscribers. With this in mind, perhaps it we are to provide truly universal access to information, computers may not be the best tools. The cellular phone has much more reach in terms of demographics, and agencies providing the right content, it may well be the breakthrough in access that we are looking for. Freedom of Expression The second keystone of the knowledge society is how we deal with freedom of expression on the Internet. It is a well-known fact that if we outlaw guns, only the outlaws will have guns. By that same token if everyone has freedom of expression without any responsibility attached, only anarchy will prevail. Society

3 3 - be it in the real world or in cyberspace - is all about finding the right balance to freedom on the one hand and social control on the other. Much of the Western media have criticised the Internet gaming curfew introduced in July. They branded it as a Big Brother type state intervention in people's private lives. But we viewed it as bringing order to chaos. Students were playing all night and cutting classes. Others were begging and stealing in the real world to buy virtual items. Reports indicate that some had even resorted to prostitution to finance their addiction. Had we not done something, an entire generation of children would grow up with mental scars. We were compelled to implement the curfew. It was not politically correct. But it was the right thing to do. Freedom of expression means that people are free to express their views and opinions without being persecuted. It does not give them the right to slander and to incite hatred with absolute immunity. Freedom to hide behind an anonymous cloud and hurl abuse is not freedom. We must educate people to their responsibilities and make them feel safe and confident to voice their opinions in a democratic way. Equal access to quality education The Ministry has just launched a broadband e-learning project for His Majesty the King where we will provide free two megabit per second broadband to 35 schools under His Majesty's Royal Patronage nationwide, many in remote areas. The broadband network will enable the school not only to access distance-learning courses provided by highly qualified teachers, but also to interact through e-learning and computer-aided courseware. But this is only a pilot project and one example of how ICTs can help bring equality and providing quality education, especially in the languages and sciences where qualified teachers are hard to come by. Many more lack access to education because of time or age. Informal education through multimedia tools allows these people to access knowledge on demand. Indeed, one might go so far as saying that ICT is the great equaliser we have been searching for, allowing all people from the most remote corners of the country, or the busiest or most disadvantaged demographic groups, to learn and better their lives. Transition from Information to Knowledge Societies One of the many aims of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology is to research and digitise indigenous knowledge. This is in part an archive, but at the same time, it is also a way of sharing the best we have with the people of the world.

4 4 The Cabinet has also recently approved the Thailand Institute of Knowledge Management and Development. This will incorporate not just a network of nationwide living libraries, equipped with modem ICT equipment, but will be an active project collecting the knowledge of Thailand and archiving it for our future generations. In addition, a major lifestyle and holistic education center, similar to Federation Square in Melbourne, is planned for construction in Furthermore, we are in the process of launching a website called "Thailand Knowledge Center" in January This site is a vast electronic library with e- Librarians on duty. It is based on the Sun-One platform kindly donated by Sun Microsystems. Not just a search engine for keywords in the more than 10,000 local websites, it will be a portal for articles from Thai authorities and specialists in every field ranging from science and technology, art and literature, politics and history, to name but a few. It is also to feature a level of interaction never before seen in Thailand. The Industrial Age was one where people were employed in factories. The information age, at least in the nineties, was one of call centres and, in a way, trivial work. We are seeking the development of a knowledge society. It is a step beyond merely manipulating numbers and figures. Humanity's knowledge, once added to, can be developed and furthered for the benefit of all. The concept of intellectual property rights was created help foster this transition to a knowledge society. With no protection, people would not innovate; they would not work only for their work to be stolen and taken advantage of in unfair ways. However, there must be a balance. IP laws must remain true to these roots and not become lost or abused by corporations and opportunists. The fiasco which has happened with companies like RiceTec patenting Indian and Thai rice has meant that people do not trust the system anymore. They fear to digitise information and would rather let our cultural heritage be forgotten lest some American start-up patents our nation's indigenous knowledge. This cannot be allowed to continue. A balance needs to be found and that is the challenge which faces all of us here today, who are involved in shaping the knowledge society of tomorrow. Cultural and linguistic diversity The final cornerstone of the knowledge society is that of cultural and linguistic diversity. It has been said that the Internet is creating a dangerous monoculture; that it is enforcing Western ideals on developing nations, which lack their own content. However, it is also true that the Internet offers the only playing field in which a small country like Thailand can be as big as the United States or the European Union. Cyberspace is a two-way street where we can also share the best we have with the world. Connectivity has made it possible for children all

5 5 over the world to learn, through distance learning, what their friends in Thailand are learning. It has given an entire new generation of Thais growing up abroad a chance to learn and speak their mother tongue. Thank you.