The Thailand branch of an American multinational technology company is working with the Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry to establish an artificial intelligence (AI) lab to cater to the farming sector and the smart city project.
The Managing Director of the firm stated that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed for the project and are in the process of developing it.
The project lets users link with the firm’s research lab, where they can access intellectual properties from around the world that can be shared.
The company is working with the DES Ministry’s Digital Economy Promotion Agency to localise this knowledge for the agriculture sector and smart city scheme.
Under the scheme, a digital platform will be set up to cater to start-ups who can develop on top of it. Start-ups, universities and R&D organisations will step in to develop.
Thailand signed a separate MoU with the Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Ministry to set up digital training classes.
People can choose positions for which they want to train, such as data scientists, data engineers or cloud architects, it was noted.
A total of 25 universities have agreed to work with the tech company to set up the classes, with more than 200 universities targeted to work with the company on developing classes in the future.
The universities will also open the door for private companies to have their personnel reskilled through the courses.
AI technology is gaining traction in the country. The time has come for AI in Thailand, experts note.
For example, a leading Thai agro-industrial conglomerate uses AI technology to monitor pig farms.
The conglomerate worked a Bangkok-based AI and blockchain consultancy, to develop the CPF AI farm lab, which issues alerts automatically if anyone trespasses in prohibited areas and thus risks having the livestock exposed to diseases. The detection is automatically done via CCTV cameras.
The COO of the conglomerate’s livestock feed business stated that raising livestock in Thailand is mainly a large-scale business. The key to animal husbandry is disease prevention.
The technology is also being offered to customers who raise livestock and receive animal feed from the company. The next target will be the company’s own farms across the country and overseas.
Additionally, Internet of Things technology could be adopted at farms to monitor and control humidity levels and temperatures most suitable for livestock.
The Chief Executive of the Bangkok-based AI and blockchain consultancy stated that major organisations in Thailand are likely to adopt AI technology within one or two years. The technology will be used in all parts of operations, he said.
AI technology is not meant to be used to replace humans at work; it is designed to support humans to work better.
According to an earlier article, the government sector, the civil society, the private sector, executives of 33 founding organisations, and new members of CONNEXT ED have teamed up to continuously foster a participatory educational culture by arranging a meeting on policy and plans to further develop Thai education under CONNEXT ED 2019.
The objective is to build on the success of the project’s Phase 2 and to discuss guidelines for the implementation of Phase 3 on topics such as digital school report, CONNEXT ED Crowdfunding, CONNEXT ED Foundation, and expansion of collaboration with the private sector.
The meeting agreed to adhere to the project’s five key strategies, including the development of Thai education in the 21st century, nurturing of “good and smart kids” in a sustainable manner, inequality reduction, development of the potential of human resources and improvement of the country’s competitiveness.
OpenGov Academy
In line with efforts to encourage AI technology adoption, OpenGov has launched its OpenGov Academy, in collaboration with AlphaZetta.
The OpenGov Academy facilitates and promotes AI masterclasses, workshops and customised courses that are conducted by AlphaZetta and supported by OpenGov.
This academy will feature masterclasses across various levels: C-suite, management, business, and, expert.
The classes have been created to impart understanding – taught in an intuitive, accessible way, keeping formulae and mathematics to a bare minimum and taking an innate, visual approach.
Data literacy, AI and data science, and strategic decision making with data are some of the classes offered by the academy.
For more information, visit: OpenGov Academy