WITH Thailand undergoing a digital transformation, digital economy and digital-native IT initiatives are the key forces in spurring a move by organisations to cloud computing.

Aiding this shift, two giant Internet data centre service providers have joined with global partners to bring global cloud services to Thailand.

According to Frost & Sullivan research in 2017, revenue in the cloud computing service market in Asia Pacific this year is forecast to reach US$24.6 billion. The market is expected to grow with an compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.4 per cent to hit US$50.8 billion in 2022.

In Thailand, the cloud computing service market in 2019 is expected to reach US$156.9 million and will continue to grow with a CAGR of 31.5 per cent; it is on track to reach US$341 million in 2022.

True IDC has partnered with Tencent, while Internet Thailand (INET) has joined with VMWare to offer advanced cloud services on Thailand.

True IDC and Tencent are introducing an interactive and artificial intelligence-enabled cloud platform, offering a complete range of cloud platform services to the public and private sectors.

This collaboration puts Thailand among Tencent’s 25 cloud infrastructures centres. Chang Foo, chief operating officer of Tencent Thailand, said that Thailand has enjoyed rapid growth in the digital economy and that is why Tencent has established a centre in Thailand to support the cloud platform.

This collaboration will deliver a global cloud experience with a full array of vertical solutions and cutting-edge technology, including facial recognition, smart retail solutions and a content delivery network.

It is the interactive and AI-enabled cloud platform that will drive Thai business to have access to high quality cloud services and help to strengthen the digital infrastructure of the nation, which is key to the economy in this digital age.

“We have a big team with 300 people in Tencent Thailand and together with local partner True IDC, we can localise and customise AI-enable cloud services to Thai customers,” said Foo.

Supparat Sivapetchranat Singhara Na Ayutthaya, managing director of True IDC, said that it is expected to enable organisations, ranging from state agencies to financial institutions and enterprises, to have a strategic option to provide cloud solutions within the country on a global cloud platform.

In Asia Pacific, the key sectors for cloud computing include media, government, and small and medium-sized businesses. In Thailand, the key customers are telecoms, government, banking/finance/insurance, manufacturing, and education.

He said True IDC’s revenue growth in 2019 will beat the market’s growth. In 2018, its cloud business was 63 per cent higher than market’s growth of 25 to 26 per cent. Its data centre business grew 26 per cent, against the market’s growth of 14 to 15 per cent.

Meanwhile, INET and VMware are offering cloud services to organisations in Thailand. As the first VMware cloud provider in Thailand to offer the service, INET will offer VMware HCX Cloud Services that to empower organisations to transform legacy on-premises data centres into modern, multi-cloud environments for quicker

app delivery and accelerated go-to-market.

Morragot Kulatumyotin, managing director of INET, said that Thailand is rapidly transforming into a digital economy. INET is committed to providing the necessary tools for organisations to modernise their IT infrastructure and become more connected while digitalising their operations, Morragot said.

“We believe that VMware’s best-in-class solutions will empower our customers to do so with ease and agility, building a flexible yet secure digital foundation required to excel in digital transformation,” said Morakot.

Sanjay K. Deshmukh, vice president and managing director for Southeast Asia and Korea at VMware, said that Thailand is ready to take

off and benefit the cloud computing services.

In line with the Thailand 4.0 vision, many Thai organisations are quickening their pace of digitalisation and modernising legacy IT systems. Information technology services spending in Thailand saw an increase of 9.2 per cent to reach Bt92.6 billion in 2018, according to research firm IDC.

Deshmukh said that VMware’s partnership with INET is set to advance Thailand’s 4.0 blueprint further by riding on the shift towards hybrid- and multi-cloud environments, thereby enabling Thai organisations to embrace innovation and operate at scale.

Spending on the rise

The digital economy accounts for more than 61 per cent of Thailand’s gross domestic product. Spending is expected to reach Bt470 billion by 2021. Around 60 per cent of Thailand’s IT spending will be on third platform technologies by 2022, it is estimated.

Therefore, 70 per cent of the top 100 Thailand organisations will mitigate lock-in through multi-cloud/hybrid technologies by 2023. The Eastern Economic Corridor is expected to be Asean’s biggest digital innovation hub and it seeks to promote development of automotive intelligent electronic systems for advanced smart appliances, the Internet of Things and wearable electronics.  Thailand’s ambitions to be a world-class medical hub will see Thailand become a leading destination for pharmaceuticals and medical devices as it becomes a world-class provider of medical care.

Ekpawin Sukanan, country manager for Thailand at Vmware, said that the new VMware HCX offering will be a game-changer for organisations looking at adopting modern data centre architectures by enabling seamless mobility at an unprecedented scale.

“INET is a well-known ICT infrastructure provider. We believe ICT is well-placed to help usher Thai organisations into the hybrid and multi-cloud universe, enabling them to capture new business opportunities and catalyse growth in the digital economy,” said Ekpawin.

AI technology brings with it game-changing capabilities for businesses and consumers alike. In this ever-changing world, it is increasingly difficult to think of any job or field that is untouched by technology. Many students today will graduate into a job market full of roles that do not even exist today, said Dhanawat Suthumpun, managing director of Microsoft Thailand.

“With many businesses already interested in the potential of AI to drive their capabilities to new heights, it is vital that they also invest in the future of not only technology but also their people in order to create lasting, sustainable change,” said Dhanawat.

A Microsoft and IDC joint survey of 101 business organisations in Thailand has revealed key gaps in available and in-demand skills across the Thai workforce as the country continues its progress into a future driven by artificial intelligence.

The study shows that almost half of Thai businesses surveyed had yet to carry out any workforce skills development plan to take advantage of the capabilities of AI.

The study also shows that only 20 per cent of Thai businesses have developed and fully implemented comprehensive plans to develop a truly AI-ready workforce, while 32 per cent have begun partial implementation of their plans. However, 48 per cent of organisations surveyed have yet to take any action in this matter, with 21 per cent having no plans to do so at this point.

Michael Araneta, associate vice president of IDC Financial Insights, said that it also saw strong recognition and relatively widespread recognition of the workforce as an important element for the future of businesses.

Around 77 per cent of Thai businesses surveyed indicated that they would at least invest evenly on employee skills and AI. Companies and their employees are also in agreement over the employer’s central role in reskilling the workforce.

Both sides also share the same perspective when it comes to the future impact of AI on their jobs. Both business leaders and workers expect the technology to empower them to perform better or more efficiently in their roles, so they foresee the emergence of new, knowledge-based jobs. Only 5 per cent of business leaders and 13 per cent of workers believe that AI will take over jobs previously done by humans.

Thai business leaders participating in the study named creativity, digital skills, and analytical or statistical skills as the most valuable skills among employees in the future. They also predict that these three skills as well as the ability to carry out scientific research and development will be in shortage over the next three years.

There is the gap between the expectations of business leaders and employees in choosing important skills to develop for the future. Executives in Thai organisations believe that a strong workforce will need more than just technical skills, with project management, leadership and people management, and creativity being the three skills with the highest gaps between leadership and employee perspectives on their importance.

Furthermore, employees also feel more sceptical about their organisations’ cultural readiness for AI adoption.

Elevated to top priority

Dhanawat said that Microsoft has made skills development a top priority for people of all ages. Through initiatives such as the Hour of Code, #MakeWhatsNext, and the Imagine Cup competition.

“We are empowering next-generation talent with the right tools and skills to create something special out of technology. Developers looking to get started with AI can also take advantage of free resources available from programmes such as the Microsoft AI School,” said Dhanawat.

The 2018 “Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes” study tracked payment habits and attitudes and explored emerging topics related to payments among 4,000 consumers in eight Southeast Asian countries, including 500 in Thailand.

The study showed that Thai consumers generally prefer digital payment methods such as cards, mobile apps and QR payments.

Suripong Tantiyanon, country manager for Visa Thailand, credited the shift in preference and the rise in confidence to industry players and the government, which have actively promoted e-payments as part of the national agenda.

“We also believe the increased preference for digital payments can be attributed to the proliferation of payment forms and acceptance points,” said Suripong.

Consumers can make payments with a wider range of connected devices and payment applications on phones and wearable devices.

“QR codes meanwhile offer merchants in traditionally cash-based sectors a fast, cost-effective and secure digital-payment solution,” he said.

The study found that two in five Thais carried less cash than they did two years ago, compared to 26 per cent in 2017. They said they did so for security reasons, because they were making more payments digitally and because using cash was often a bother.

The study also showed that, of those who tried going cashless, more than half could manage a day without cash and 45 per cent could last without cash for more than three days.

Confidence growing

In terms of future expectation, more Thais are confident about the country becoming a cashless society. Nearly one in three is confident that this will be a cashless society within three years, compared to 11 per cent who said so in 2017.

“The findings are encouraging,” Suripong said. “We believe we’re on the right track and it’s important to help more consumers and merchants embrace the benefits of digital payments. At the same time, we’re committed to collaborating with all stakeholders in the payment industry as we continue transforming Thailand into a cashless society.”

Zuckerberg made the comments in a video conversation about the future of technology and society with Mathias Doepfner, chairman of German-based media giant Axel Springer.

Zuckerberg said he sees interest in building a product separate from its personalized feed that would serve people who want news from professional media.

“We want this to surface high quality and trustworthy information,” Zuckerberg said in the video.

“There’s a lot of people who have a demand (for) more news.”

Zuckerberg said he believes as many as 10 to 15 percent of Facebook users would be interested in a dedicated news tab.

The news tab would be created in a way to compensate news organizations whose content is selected, he noted.

“We’re not going to have journalists making news,” he said.

The comments marked a new direction for Facebook, which has been accused of enabling the spread of misinformation and hoaxes on its “news feed” that contains posts from friends as well as other content personalized for users.

Zuckerberg reiterated that Facebook did not want to be a “publisher,” a longstanding position it has taken to avoid being considered a media company, but was willing to be a partner for the sector.

“It’s important to me that we help people get trustworthy news and find solutions that help journalists around the world do their important work,” Zuckerberg said in a post accompanying the video.

Zuckerberg said any news tab would require “curation” or selection, without offering details, and that he would hope to build this in consulation with news organizations.

He noted that details of this new product were still being studied but that he sees a possibility that it could help news organizations struggling with the transition to digital content.

“There is a real opportunity in a separate news service to have better monetization for publishers than we have in news feed,” he said.

“Facebook could potentially have a direct relationship with publishers to make sure their content is available.”

The HK SAR government will provide e-ID to all Hong Kong residents to enable them to conduct online transactions via unique electronic identification, promote a new economic service model directly to citizens and provide key electronic infrastructure for Hong Kong’s smart city project.

In this way, Hong Kong residents don’t need to carry ID cards with them. Furthermore, using Ping An’s technology, they can complete online transactions in an easier way, boosting the facilitation of e-commerce.

Ericson Chan, CEO of Ping An Technology, said: “The combined scheme of Ping An Cloud deployment and face recognition was key for Ping An Technology to win this project. The e-ID project is the framework for building a smart city in Hong Kong. Participation in the project is conducive to helping Ping An Technology further develop overseas practices for smart cities.”

With 99.8 percent accuracy and minimum wave amplitude, its facial recognition technology has reached a world-leading level. In addition, the technology has been widely and deeply applied in more than 200 fields, including airport security, community intelligent management, financial risk control, medical insurance, social welfare security, railway facilities connection and a series of high-security areas.

At present, facial recognition technology has been integrated into Ping An’s identity verification platform, integrating many artificial intelligence algorithms such as biopsy detection, optical character recognition and voiceprint recognition. The platform service has been extended to Southeast Asia and other overseas areas.

Market insiders said application of the face recognition technology into the e-ID system offers convenience to residents, in that a person’s identification can be verified and the docking of the technology with other online platforms promotes the facilitation of online transaction.

The South Korean government announced Friday it had approved mobile carriers’ pricing plans for fifth-generation wireless networks, with the third-biggest telecom company, LG Uplus, revealing that its pricing will start from 55,000 won ($48) per month.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, the government has greenlighted SK Telecom’s pricing for 5G services. SK Telecom is the only mobile carrier required to obtain the government’s approval for new pricing plans.

While the details of SKT and KT’s pricing plans will be kept under wraps until they hold a press conference early next week, LG Uplus said the pricing scheme will start from 55,000 won per month for 9 gigabytes.

“Combined with our initiative in pricing plans and distinctive contents for 5G network, we will accelerate our efforts to lead commercial rollout of 5G,” said LG Uplus’s Vice President Hwang Hyun-sik.

South Korea has been seeking to become the world’s first country to offer commercial service for 5G network. Samsung Electronics said last week its first 5G-powered smartphone, Galaxy S10 5G, will hit the market on April 5.

The other pricing plans from LG Uplus are 75,000 won per month for 150 gigabytes and 95,000 per month for 250 gigabytes. If users subscribe to the 95,000 won plan by June, they will be provided with an additional 1,000 gigabytes every month for free, LG Uplus said.

As the country’s biggest mobile carrier, SKT has been under pressure to come up with a cheaper pricing model. Earlier this month, the government rejected the company’s original pricing plan, criticizing it for “restricting consumers’ choice.”

During a meeting with shareholders Tuesday, SKT Chief Park Jung-ho hinted that the company’s 5G pricing plan would start in the range of 55,000 won per month following the government’s proposal.

“There was request for a pricing plan in the range of 55,000 won (from the government). We are about to wrap up the discussion,” said Park.

However, consumer activist groups have continued to take issue with the possibility that consumers may end up with hefty bills for use of the next-generation network. Combined with the cost of new 5G smartphones, a consumer could pay up to 20,000 won more than a current 4G Long Term Evolution plan.

According to industry watchers here, SKT’s pricing plan is expected to consist of four parts: 55,000 won for 8 gigabytes; 75,000 won for 150 gigabytes, 95,000 won for 200 gigabytes and 125,000 won for 300 gigabytes.

Given that the price of Samsung’s first 5G smartphone, the Galaxy S10 5G, would be set around 1.4 million won, a consumer advocacy group argued that the hyper-speed network may not be accessible to low-income households.

“Those who spend 30,000 to 40,000 won on telecom bills would not be able to use 5G network services,” said People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy. “It is the worst pricing plan in the era of worsening income disparity.”

Telecom firms have said that they are compelled to raise prices as a result of the extensive infrastructure they needed to install for the introduction of 5G services. They spent about 3.6 trillion won combined last year to purchase the rights to use certain frequencies for 5G services.

Industry watchers said while the average price per unit of data would decrease, thanks to the increased amount of data delivered via the ultrahigh speed network, the overall price of 5G services could initially be higher than existing services, as companies seek to recoup the costs of establishing the new networks.

SKT chief Park told reporters if 5G subscribers were to use the same amount of data as 4G subscribers, 5G would be cheaper by up to a third. The 5G network is expected to be up to 20 times faster than 4G, allowing users to download high-definition movie in a few seconds.

Periodontitis, which causes the collapse of bones under the teeth, affects an estimated more than 3 million people in Japan.

According to the researchers, damaged bones that support teeth were mostly restored in experiments they conducted on animals. They expect to get similar results in humans, and aim to put the treatment into practical use in two years.

No effective treatment for periodontitis has been developed to date, and it is known to have negative impacts on other conditions such as diabetes and arteriosclerosis.

 Juntendo will conduct the clinical study in partnership with Nihon University, Aichi Gakuin University and others.

The researchers will mix adipose-derived stem cells, which are extracted from patients’ subcutaneous fat, and platelet-rich plasma (PRP), which are extracted from patients’ blood. The mixed cells will be transplanted into affected areas to induce the restoration of bones and other organs. The team plans to transplant the cells into 10 patients and examine their safety and effectiveness.

In experiments using dogs, about 80 percent of their damaged bones were restored in two months, according to the researchers.

Morikuni Tobita, an associate professor of Juntendo University said, “There is a treatment in which only PRP is injected into damaged areas, but its effectiveness is not fully confirmed. We want to confirm the safety and effectiveness of our new treatment, and provide it for less than ¥500,000 (about $4,500).”

Shunsuke Baba, a professor of Osaka Dental University said, “(The method) is full-fledged dentistry clinical research using cells. It will make history if we can use them at low cost.”