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Published on March 4, 2008

The company has worked with the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) for the establishment of the centre.

According to Microsoft Thailand's managing director Pattama Chantaruck, the firm will provide 100 per cent of the funding for the centre. The Bt100 million will be used for hardware and software infrastructure as well as to develop facilities in the centre and operating costs in the first year.

The company is in talks with NSTDA to find a proper location to build the centre and it's expected to be officially launched next month.

Pattama said the innovation centre would provide Microsoft customers and partners with a set of programs and services to foster innovation and growth in local software economies. It would also be a place to transfer technology to local software companies and offer them facilities to demonstrate their products.

"We are working with NSTDA to set up the centre with the hope of encouraging the local software industry and making it part of our ecosystem," Pattama said.

The company has more than 60 innovation centres around the world to offer students, professional developers, architects, IT professionals and researchers access to facilities, consultants and resources. Pattama said even though Microsoft funded the centre's establishment, the centre in Thailand would be owned and operated by NSTDA.

"We plan to help build the centre with initial funding and then it will eventually be self-reliant," she said.

Owned by NSTDA, the innovation centre will offer facilities to allow local software companies to make proof of concept of their software, not only on Microsoft platforms but also other platforms including open-source.

Pattama said Microsoft's platforms would be just part of the centre's service. The centre's main purpose is to offer facilities and services for a variety of software platforms.

"What Microsoft will get from this investment is not only to show proof of concept of Microsoft products which are developed by local partners but also show our customers an interoperability to demonstrate that Microsoft programs can work with other platforms," she said.

After the first year, Pattama said the company would evaluate the centre's operation for further funding support.

"In the second and third years we will offer joint funding with NSTDA to run the centre and we hope that after the third year the centre will be self reliant and have its own revenue to operate itself," she added.

The Bt100-million investment in this project is part of Microsoft Thailand's Bt1.5-billion investment plan to continue its projects to assist education in Thailand and encourage local innovation.

Apart from the innovation centre, the company this year will continue to work with government agencies, NGO partners and educators to enhance the quality of formal and non-formal education in Thailand through Partners in Learning, ICT Accessibility, and community technology centre projects, for example.

After having operated for four years, the Partner in Learning project will conclude by the end of this year. However Pattama said the company had plans to extend the project for another five years to train Thai teachers and students in ICT so they can integrate the technology to improve their teaching and learning systems.

Microsoft has trained around 70,000 teachers and 1 million students throughout the country to understand ICT and use it to improve their daily lives. The extension of the project is expected to bring ICT to more Thai teachers and students and allow them to make better use of ICT.

Meanwhile, as part of the company's commitment to make technology more affordable and accessible, the company is working with the Education Ministry to offer US$3 (Bt100) Microsoft software suites to Thai students so they can use Microsoft software at home.

The suites comprise Microsoft Vista, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Math and Digital Literacy. The firm plans to launch the $3-software project in Thailand soon and is committed to distributing at least 10,000 licences to Thai students.

Pongpen Sutharoj

The Nation