Wishing Thailand an e-governance success very soon

Nart Liuchareon, chief executive of CDG Group

The word has been discussed, endorsed and recorded in cabinet-meeting minutes. Not just the head of the government but many ministers have also declared that e-government will be one of their top priorities.

I do not need to elaborate on the benefits of sharing of data among different government departments' and ministries' IT systems. Besides improving the efficiency of government processes, this supports the private sector as well. Convenience, speed, accuracy and security are all benefits that the citizens of Thailand can expect if we can further implement the e-citizen system.

Where are we now? Is there any IT master plan for Thailand that has been executed consistently in these past years? Have all the key departments and ministries been computerised up to a certain degree which will enable sharing of data?  How can the government handle and sustain the salaries of IT-literate civil officers to match the private sector's compensation trends?

One thing I do know is that we always love to plan. The word "plan-ning" has "ning" in it, which in Thai means to stop or pause. That is probably why when we are done with planning, everything stops!

There are many Thailand IT plans, whether it's IT 2000, IT 2010 or IT 20xx. What I wish and really want to see is the reasonable plan with real action!   

Can a government, which changes portfolios of ministers every 6 months to 12 months, effectively execute a master plan effectively? I doubt this could ever happen. Therefore, can my wish of seeing Thailand rank among the top competitive countries in the world ever come true? Let's pray!