The agency will operate as the “national innovation system integrator”, forging collaborations between academia, technology, industry, finance and other sectors to create real economic and social impacts. The new mission comes with a five-pronged plan: to reform innovation-related laws, build innovative regions, forge new innovative “economic warriors”, strengthen financing for innovation, and create awareness of “Innovation Thailand”.

“The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation has declared the NIA will be responsible for manpower development, ecosystems and innovative infrastructure,” explained Pun-Arj Chairatana, executive director of the NIA.

“This merging and restructuring of the new ministry is a turning point that will help drive Thailand forward. Competent manpower will help many sectors be prepared for future changes,” he added.

“Previously, we only focused on supporting innovative entrepreneurs through funding. … Now, NIA is ready to become the ecosystem builder and system integrator between partner organisations and entrepreneurs.

“We have knowledge, an ecosystem, business ideas, open innovation development concepts, and new opportunities to share. This adjustment will also support regional innovation, lower barriers in accessing resources and services, and expand cooperation in other related target activities.”

The NIA’s role as innovation integrator has two dimensions, Pun-Ari explained.

First is horizontal integration of supply-side development by creating a network of agencies which support innovation development in order to strengthen collaboration within the ecosystem. Second is vertical integration of demand-side development by connecting and coordinating with the private sector, civil society and stakeholders for innovation creation with economic and social impact.

To meet this objective, a fivefold plan will unfold between 2020 and 2023 to:

1. Reform innovation laws by reducing limitations and creating a conducive environment for the growth of innovations, such as improving laws on startups law and the use of technology and innovation in business.

2. Build innovative regions to raise equality and strong development in regional innovation networks. NIA will connect local government departments, universities, private sector and communities with three goals: a) Increasing innovation in the workforce, and raising the number of innovators and innovative organisations in the region; b) Developing target industrial clusters in the region to increase investment potential; and c) Supporting the innovation identity of the region in order to expand the investment in the innovation business of the region.

3. Building new innovative economic warriors, which will focus on creating innovators and innovation – especially those with global potential – to enhance the country’s competitiveness. Creating a minimum of 20,000 jobs.

4. Building financing by stimulating support and investment from government agencies, large corporations, financial institutions, and also creating marketing plans for entrepreneurs.

5. Creating awareness of “Innovation Thailand” through cooperation and campaigns that promote global recognition for Thailand and Thais as a hotbed of high-tech and new idea.

Future-oriented strategy will be paired with concrete actions to support plans. For example, the Groom, Grant and Growth programmes will increase opportunities for innovative business development. Groom is an incubator for business entrepreneurs, Grant will support access to funding, while Growth will enhance innovation capability and create investment opportunities on the international stage. Meanwhile area-based organisation will take the form of innovation corridors, cities and districts. Lastly, the Startup Thailand programme will support new businesses by enhancing workers’ capacity for innovation via education at the NIA Academy, the Centre for Agricultural Innovation Business, and Innovation Foresight Institute.

The format also offers content based on individual preferences. For instance, if one user likes watching videos, then products they may consider buying will also be provided in video format.

Jiang Fan, president of Alibaba subsidiaries Taobao and Tmall, said these next-generation flagship stores are part of a series of service and technological innovations that Alibaba plans to roll out this year.

“They will further improve platform efficiency and generate growth for merchants, while bringing all-new, online-to-offline shopping experiences for consumers,” he said.

The new format, which will be launched on Tmall before the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival in November, will include features that help merchants engage with customers more directly.

For instance, “brand-loyalty scores” will allow users to collect points for any action taken in a flagship store – be it browsing and adding items to the shopping cart, or playing an interactive game and leaving a review. The higher the score they get, the more benefits they earn as part of the brand’s “Fan Club”.

Stores will also be able to grab attention with the “drag-down pop-up” feature, in which users can “drag down” pop-ups (which Tmall refers to as “store lofts”) above a flagship store’s homepage for additional information.

Brands will also be able to feature content powered by augmented reality (AR) and 3D, such as magic mirror to virtually try on make-up or artificial intelligence powered skin tests.

The flagship store’s home page can also feature a tab that takes users to a page showing the brand’s closest bricks-and-mortar location, what items are sold there as well as offline perks and services.

This tab was created essentially to give physical stores an online presence and connect online and offline operations.

“We’ve seen content evolve from just text and images to video clips and livestreaming, opening up new avenues for brand expression,” said Alvin Tang, vice president of Alibaba Group and one of the men behind the Tmall Flagship 2.0 launch.

“Today, with the development of AI, AR and 3D technologies, we are able to introduce even more exciting ways for brands to interact with consumers.”

Reporters were able to look closely at how digital technology and innovations were improving product development, production processes, services and marketing, upgrading capabilities effectively and adding value to both agricultural and industrial sectors supported by depa.

Dr. Natthaphon Nimmanacharin, the agency’s president and chief executive, noted that depa is promoting digital entrepreneurs by providing support and funds and took the media to visit entrepreneurs and start-up groups funded and subsidised through the digital transformation fund, digital coupons and mini transformation vouchers. Stops included Suksomboon Palm Oil Industry, which manufactures and distributes palm oil, and Tevada Corp, an expert in agricultural unmanned aircraft technology or drones. Both offered a demonstration of how digital technology was being applied in business management to develop efficiency.

Chachoengsao province-based Tevada Corp is a start-up that uses unmanned aircraft technology for a complete range of services such as a high-precision agriculture and intelligent air transport. The company has some 14-years expertise in small aircraft and drones as well as in electrical systems, electronics and software and provides agricultural drones services, including drones for various spraying of liquids, sowing seeds and fertilizer and the surveillance of plant health with a multispectral camera.

The company also provides plant health analysis services with drones, agricultural measuring instruments and a weather station monitoring service that uses ambient weather conditions such as temperature, humidity, wind direction and air pressure for data analysis through software and cloud server systems. It also offers a comprehensive agricultural management program, Farm Style, and air transportation system development services with drones. Depa’s support comes through the mini transformation voucher project.

Suksomboon Palm Oil Company, meanwhile, is a manufacturer and distributor of palm oil that uses digital technology. Its Palm Oil and Plant Management System, RSPO and Intelligent Transportation Digital Platform: Smart RSPO Palm Oil Plantation and Logistic Management for Palm Plant Management from upstream to downstream is an app that manages the maintenance garden, cuts production, summarizes the amount of production and forecasts the next production cycle and uses a smartphone to store data in the palms.

All farmers have to do is walk to the palm tree and print information through the application. Various data will be collected before being sent to the central hub at the company’s head office. Through its digital technology, the company helps solve problems for farmers in many areas such as lack of record of palm plantation management, problems with the extraction plant and lack of (FFB) raw material input to the production system and can also help farmers to receive higher returns since they are able to lower the cost of palm production and also reduce labor costs at the same time. The company receives funding from depa under the depa digital transformation fund project.

That’s down to the Digital Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation system, the latest technology in the QuietPoint series that ensures superb music experience when travelling or working outdoors. The 4 built-in microphones enhance noise cancellation efficiency while the 40 mm drivers with their carbon-coated diaphragms deliver high-frequency sound with clarity and power. The headphones are now on sale for Bt11,500.

The new toothbrush utilises Kyocera’s proprietary ceramic piezoelectric element inside the head of the toothbrush, turning electrical signals into vibrations to transmit music directly to the user without the use of external speakers, so only the child can hear the music.

Possi is a toothbrush for the parent’s final brushing after a child brushes on their own. The round shape and candy-colored design appeal to children. Kyocera’s small ceramic piezoelectric element and digital-driven amplifier mounted on the body cause the toothbrush head to vibrate, allowing the child to hear and enjoy music only when the brush head is in contact with the child’s teeth or the inside of the mouth.

The SoftBank Group Corp. affiliate aims to implement the system in fiscal 2020 to provide driverless transport services in areas where transportation is lacking due to depopulation or a shortage of bus drivers.

The test used the Navya Arma, a vehicle developed by France’s Navya SA.

The Navya Arma, marketed as an unmanned self-driving bus, has no driver’s seat or steering wheel. It can be remotely operated in the event of an emergency.

For the tests, the vehicle drives at speeds of up to 15 kph for about 300 meters on a public road encircling a park in the urban area.

GPS is used to determine the position of the bus, and a high-performance sensor at the front of the vehicle detects obstacles on the road ahead.

The bus finished its test run without a hitch on Wednesday. It automatically stopped when it detected a pedestrian and oncoming car, and accelerated again after confirming the coast was clear.

As safety precautions, a remote system monitored the operation and a driver with a remote control accompanied the media on board.

“Personnel costs can be reduced because you don’t need a driver, making it possible to introduce the system in sparsely populated areas at low cost,” said Yuki Saji, president and chief executive officer of SB Drive. “I want to make it an everyday means of local transportation.”

NetDragon, a global leader in building internet communities, said Promethean was continuing its over two decades of developing purpose-built products designed by teachers for teachers.

The new ActivPanel Elements series is a recent winner of the prestigious international Red Dot Design Award.

“The series is purpose-built to make teaching more efficient and enjoyable while enriching student learning experiences,” Vin Riera, the CEO of Promethean, said. “It employs a ground-breaking unified menu to control all apps and settings on the panel, and source switching across connected devices. This means teachers can move seamlessly between content and resources with greater confidence and less training time required, and don’t need to manually switch inputs across hardware,” Riera added.

Another powerful feature is Promethean’s proprietary new Vellum writing technology, which brings together elements of hardware and software to make the writing experience natural and enjoyable. Vellum technology brings the instant whiteboard to life with unparalleled free-form writing, pinch-zoom navigation, and pre-loaded teaching tools, Riera said.

“In terms of classroom applications, the ActivPanel Elements series includes classroom essential apps. At the touch of a button, teachers can use the infinite canvas on the highly intuitive whiteboard app to instantly supplement lessons. They can also draw, highlight, and annotate over any content from any source with the annotate app, and add excitement to activities with the customisable spinner and timer apps. In addition, the ActivPanel Elements series includes Promethean’s award-winning, interactive lesson delivery software products. Both ActivInspire and ClassFlow are supported and available without an additional subscription,” Riera said.

The ActivPanel Elements series also empowers secure, multi-device collaboration via screen-sharing across the ActivPanel, smartphones, Chromebooks, tablets, and laptops. This frees teachers to move anywhere in the classroom and create small/large group interactions that drive student engagement, Riera added.

Over the next five years, the penetration rate for smart meters among electricity customers in the US and Canada is projected to increase from around 60 per cent in 2018 to more than 80 per cent by the end of 2024.

“North America has long been at the forefront of smart grid technology adoption and a large share of the major utilities in the region are now either fully deployed or in the implementation or planning stages of full-scale rollouts,” said Levi Östling, IoT analyst at Berg Insight and author of the report.

“The market is, however, highly heterogenous in terms of penetration. Some states or provinces remain sceptical towards the business case for advanced metering investments whereas others are soon to begin a second wave of deployments.”

Canada has reached a high penetration of smart meters through ambitious initiatives in its most populous provinces. Continued growth in North America over the next few years will largely be driven by the large investor-owned utilities in the US that are yet to roll out smart meters for their customers.

According to the report, yearly shipments of smart electricity meters in North America will grow ‪from 8.8‬ million units in 2018 to 19.9 million units in 2024. Over the next few years, first-wave deployments by utilities such as Consolidated Edison, Duke Energy, Ameren, Entergy, PSEG, National Grid and Xcel Energy will boost shipments. Second wave deployments will gradually make their way into the shipment numbers at the end of the forecast period.

EDITED LUCI

Tech

The study polled 9,000 participants across nine countries in Asia, including 1,000 consumers in Thailand. The survey was designed to uncover insights into consumer preferences around OTT services, including subscription tiers and motivators driving subscriptions; how much consumers are willing to pay; their tolerance to advertising and ad-supported subscriptions; and openness to a shoppable TV experience post-programming.

The study reported that

– 40 per cent of respondents in Thailand said they might be open to a reduced monthly subscription package that serves ads depending on the price and 38 per cent said they would definitely sign up, representing a potential market size of 78 per cent of respondents polled favouring this option.

– 59 per cent of “Lapsed” respondents are planning to sign-up for OTT services again in the future.

– The top three reasons for subscribing to multiple OTT services were: to satisfy the content needs of their family (45 per cent), free trials and promotions (44 per cent), and less expensive than pay TV (34 per cent).

– Thinking about the future, 26 per cent of respondents in Thailand want to pay nothing and watch ads as a trade off to consuming content, 25 per cent elected to pay a lower fee and see limited ads, and 17 per cent stated they are willing to pay a higher fee to not see ads.

– When asked how much respondents would be willing to pay for OTT services, 33 per cent stated less than US$1 (Bt30) per month, 25 per cent would pay $1-$4 per month, and 38 per cent would pay somewhere between $5-$20 per month.

– 25 per cent of respondents in Thailand found one ad as an acceptable advertising load per ad break and 18 per cent were open to two ads per break.

• Access on mobile (42 per cent), offline downloads (38 per cent), and access on Apple TV, Android TV or Smart TV apps (37 per cent) were the top three OTT service features most wanted by respondents in Thailand.

• When asked if respondents would be open to purchasing product seen on TV, 72 per cent of respondents were receptive to the idea of shoppable TV.

Greg Armshaw, head of sales for Asia at Brightcove said: “Our research indicates that Thais are more overwhelmed by the number of OTT choices than other Southeast Asia markets. However only 17 per cent of respondents stated that there is not enough TV content online. That indicates that an OTT service provider should aim to satisfy a large enough user base in order to be profitable.

The Cisco-PSU initiative provides a blueprint for cities in Thailand that are planning urban innovation through the novel application of technologies, partnerships, funding models, and community involvement.

PSU has implemented Cisco’s core network technology and its IoT platform with an end-to-end secure connection. This provides a strong foundation for digital transformation at PSU, enabling the university to build a smart-city model that can be replicated elsewhere in Thailand.

Vatsun Thirapatarapong, Cisco’s managing director for Thailand said that Cisco is behind the success of smart-city projects in several countries. “We have provided our core network technology and AI–ready data centre to support smart solutions and applications, along with end-to-end security, to help build smart cities,” he explained.

“A smart-city project has to be driven by professionals who truly understand technology and innovation. Cisco is therefore committed to providing the necessary skills and expertise to PSU staff through the Cisco Network Academy, including foundational knowledge about IoT and DevNet, which delivers networking knowledge from software developers who specialise in Cisco’s networking technology. Cisco will provide training, knowledge and skills to the PSU workforce to address future demands in the digital world. This collaboration is part of our ‘Co-Innovation’ initiative which aims to embrace meaningful and innovative solutions for sustainable development by collaborating with public and private organisations.”

Niwat Keawpradub, President, Prince of Songkla University (PSU), said that PSU acts as an advisor for 14 southern provinces, and each city in those provinces will learn how to leverage technology for city development and follow this model.

“The partnership with Cisco helps PSU to build smart solutions and an IoT platform, while enhancing the digital skills of our professionals, enabling us to implement our smart-city initiative more effectively and successfully. We aim to continue developing our smart-city model and share proven best practices with other cities looking to replicate such initiatives within their own communities,” he said.