Jianjun Zhou, vice president of Huawei Global Carrier Business Group, said Myanmar should draw up a comprehensive ICT plan for the next 10 years, focusing on 5G deployment to drive forward the digital economy.

Speaking at the Myanmar 5G Forum2018 on Wednesday, he urged the government to urgently draft a clear national 5G development plan, as it will take some years for a 5G ecosystem to mature in an emerging market such as Myanmar.

He suggested four pillars that Myanmar must prepare before the 5G era comes into being: policy, spectrum, site, and fibre.

“Firstly, the government should create the policy and regulatory environment to support a more efficient rollout, given its potential benefits to the economy. The government’s direction should support the timely rollout of 5G to enable the next wave of broad-based industry in Myanmar,” he said.

“Secondly, carriers lack spectrum. The government needs to plan a 5G-oriented spectrum roadmap, and release sufficient spectrum resources for 5G deployment. Thirdly, site resources are still insufficient for both 4G and 5G, and the cost is very expensive. Carriers need government support with site resources. Lastly, the government needs to unify and manage the fibre rollout. Fibre should be introduced in synergistic with 5G rollout. No fibre, no 5G.”

He urged the authorities to avoid inflating 5G spectrum prices – such as through excessive reserve prices or annual fees – as they may limit network investment. He suggested encouraging heavy investments in 5G networks by allowing long-term licences and renewal.

“If the government allows carriers to share the infrastructure of other public utilities, it will greatly help reduce costs and speed up deployment,” he said.

According to the executive, the government should also encourage the backbone transition to fibre by letting fibre connect every site before 5G deployment.

“Deploying new networks is not easy. We have to deal with many |challenges in terms of the technology, resources, regulations, and business cases. But we believe that 5G will make an important |contribution to Myanmar society,” he said.

The executive pledged that Huawei will closely work with other partners on technology development and standardisation, to make 5G a reality in Myanmar.

Worapat Patram, director of public policy at Intel Microelectronics (Thailand) Ltd and a representative of Global Mobile Suppliers Association, stressed the importance of multi-stakeholders collaboration to drive the success of 5G in Myanmar.

“Ensuring affordable access to spectrum is fundamental. The preference is for exclusive licences. Auctions represent a fair regime by providing a rational market value of dedicated spectrum to users who value it the most,” he said.

Worapat said spectrum auctions should not be designed to maximise revenue but should be designed to stimulate infrastructure investments and spectrum usage.

Ismail Shah, head of Southeast Asia and Timor Leste at International Telecommunication Union, urged authorities to prepare for addressing regulatory challenges including licensing, spectrum allocation, identification, security and privacy, infrastructure sharing, data analytics, and the disposal of electronic waste.

As the year comes to a close, consumers in Asia Pacific have flocked to popular e-commerce sites to maximise deals from hefty discounts, since the Singles’ Day in November to “12.12” and now to Christmas – the grand finale of this year’s shopping season.

Amidst the popularisation of online shopping sprees during the holiday season, customers are leaving traces of their digital footprints and preferences across multiple channels ranging from desktop, mobile and even brick-and-mortar stores. With data on customers’virtual shopping carts, payment preferences, social profiles, and even internet browsing histories, retailers stand a chance to understand their customers better. But there’s a challenge too: how to gather, store, manage and analyse all of this data to provide better products and services and ultimately create the best customer experience?

This is where we’re seeing artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled cloud services come into their own, helping businesses across the region use this information to build the personalised, data-driven and secure customer experience that’s not just a possibility, but an absolute necessity.

Connecting Online and Offline Experiences

More and more customers today expect a personalised, seamless cross-channel approach to their shopping, whether that’s in-store or online. According to Oracle’s recently published Topography of Retail report, 74 per cent of consumers want “knowledgeable in-store staff that could meet their specific needs quickly”, while 64 percent of consumers from emerging markets including China and India said they loved the idea of virtual reality “try on” apps, for personalised shopping experiences. Imagine looking online for the perfect Christmas gift and then going into a store the next day, to find a shop assistant who points you towards the gift you were looking for. That’s the level of cross-channel expectation we’re gearing towards.

Data, when analysed correctly, is at the heart of this genuinely connected customer experience. It requires brands to effectively establish an understanding of their customers by analysing existing behaviours, so they can give favourable, precise recommendations quickly, based on the results.

Here Comes the AI Revolution

AI is making data-powered personalisation possible. Using cloud services powered by a combination of emerging technologies led by AI, machine learning and blockchain, retailers and brands are able to build a detailed understanding of a consumer’s behaviour both within their stores and across their online channels, as well as understanding their likes and behaviours beyond their shopping experiences. With this information, marketers can create appropriate content, specifically targeted to their audiences and delivered during key daily purchasing moments.

ZALORA, the largest e-commerce fashion company in Southeast Asia, is an organisation that relies on machine learning and AI to drive new levels of customer loyalty. It was important for ZALORA to have a tool that helps them listen and respond in real-time to each personalized interaction with the customer. With Oracle Marketing Cloud, ZALORA has moved from a batch and blast model to become an orchestrator of personalized conversations, where they are able to speak to customers in a relevant and tailored manner. Some of the benefits achieved by ZALORA from Oracle Marketing Cloud include the halving of time needed for a lead conversation to capture a large customer base, resulting in a multifold increase in revenue.

Connecting Data Cross-Platforms

Looking beyond targeted offers, it is also essential to bring all data related to customers in one centralised location, especially if you want to improve service efficiency and accuracy. With connected access to data from the marketing team, the supply chain and the back office all centralised in the cloud, companies can better coordinate internally and then create an integrated, end-to-end engagement plan without breaking into fragmented point solutions throughout the customer journey.

Bangkok Airways has become the first airline in Thailand to deploy the Oracle Service Cloud to improve its customer service and engagement. The carrier expects the software to help it quickly identify and respond to requests and incidents, minimising any disruption to customers’ travel plans and improving the customer experience through greater visibility supporting informed decisions. Agents and supervisors can now route, track and audit emails, and generate reports to measure the performance of the incident resolution process and agents themselves.

Protecting Information

Yet, many will say that AI and cloud-based data-sharing present a major risk to identity security.  After all, if brands are able to know so much about us, isn’t there a risk that hackers could easily access the data?

This is where blockchain comes in. Contrary to the belief that this is simply a vehicle for volatile cyber currencies, blockchain can create ultra-secure tokens which contain an individual’s unique personal information. By using encrypted authentication, this information can only be accessed through use of a secure key, providing totally personalised information, alongside cryptographic security.

It’s about Trust

All these innovations are available right now, but companies need to carefully adopt this innovation while ensuring customer trust.Over 90 per cent of consumers in developing markets such as India or China and nearly half in developed markets such as the US or Australia that Oracle spoke to, said it was important that they themselves had control over the personal information that retailers held on them. So, while one in three customers in Australia, New Zealand, and India would welcome a personalised digital experience based on previous interactions with brands, there has to be boundaries.Retailers need to tread that fine line between customers appreciating good Christmas present recommendations based on their Singles’ Day purchases, and, feeling a bit uncomfortable with gift suggestions based on their mood in their latest Instagram story.

The continuous pursuit of customer happiness remains at the heart and core of companies. As many customers are demanding the future now, companies need to either predict their needs or lose them.Emerging technologies including AI-enabled cloud solutions can help companies find more value from data, and ultimately, up their game in perfecting the digitally-transformed customer experience journey.

Digital transformation is a requirement for ongoing competitiveness that clearly helps businesses run more efficiently and deliver great experiences. However, many of today’s point solutions only solve part of the digital workflow problem, don’t play well in existing software ecosystems like the broad HR technology space, or just don’t provide the enterprise-grade identity assurance required in industries like financial services.Today we are thrilled to further differentiate Adobe Document Cloud with industry-first signer identity and workflow improvements focused on enabling seamless digital customer onboarding for FSIs, the industry’s most comprehensive HR solution support and even stronger document security as Adobe Acrobat becomes Microsoft’s preferred PDF solution for Microsoft Information Protection.

Adobe Sign introduces industry-first Government ID Authentication for FSI customer onboarding

Implementing an e-signature solution is a simple way to digitally transform your company, attract new business online, and help customers save time in any enrollment or onboarding process. But for some industries, especially banking and other financial services, e-signatures are a no-go unless they can confidently verify the identity of their customers before providing digital onboarding services.

Adobe has solved this problem with the latest release of Adobe Sign that pioneers an industry-first signer identification option called Government ID Authentication, whichuses a physical ID, like a driver’s license or passport, as a form of digital ID authentication. When enabled, signers are guided through the simple process of using their mobile phone to snap a photo of a physical ID card. Adobe Sign automatically and comprehensively evaluates the ID card’s security features, like patterns, fonts and layout, to authenticate the identity of the signer and allow them to complete the signature process. This smart new way to authenticate a remote signer takes only seconds, but it delivers a great signer experience, while reducing identity fraud concerns for the company.

Providing this higher level of signer identity authentication will help our customers implement e-signatures in a whole host of new business processes. Many of the world’s largest financial service providers already trust Adobe Sign for their customers’ digital enrollment and we expect many of them to adopt Government ID Authentication to make the process an even better experience for everyone involved.

Adobe Sign expands its comprehensive support of HR solutions with industry-first integrations in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Talent and ServiceNow HR Service Delivery

Every HR leader understands that employees expect a modern, digital experience.According to Jacob Morgan, best-selling author focused on the future of work, organizations that invest in employee experiences have 4.2x the average profit and 2.1x the average revenue of those that don’t. And while the HR technology industry is laser-focused on employee experiences, there are still so many paper-dependent HR processes that degrade employee experiences and waste limited HR resources.Integrating e-signatures into HR solution-based processes is critical to delivering an end-to-end digital experience for employees that eliminates paper-based processes like offer letter and onboarding document approvals. Adobe Sign has integrations with the most widely used HR solutions to help deliver an all-digital employee experience. And now to support even more HR organizations, we’re releasing new, industry first integrations with two powerful HR solutions: Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Talent and ServiceNow HR Service Delivery.

Adobe Sign is the first and only e-signature solution to be integrated with these HR platforms, giving Adobe customers even greater choice in how they adopt e-signatures into employee-centric processes. The Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Talent and ServiceNow HR Service Delivery integrations join the other Adobe Sign integrations with widely adopted HR solutions like Workday and SAP SuccessFactors to make e-signatures part of company-wide document processes.

Adobe Acrobat Now Microsoft’s preferred PDF solution for Microsoft Information Protection

As the leaders in digital document solutions, Adobe and Microsoft continue to work together to help modern enterprises digitally transform. In addition to the new Adobe Sign integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Talent, today we’re enabling even higher document security in PDFs thanks to Microsoft Information Protection support in Acrobat DC and Acrobat Reader on Windows. Now companies that require the comprehensive protection of sensitive data provided by Microsoft Information Protection can open and view PDF files in Acrobat DC that have been secured by Microsoft Informaiton Protection. This new capability makes Acrobat DC the preferred PDF viewer for Microsoft Informaiton Protection solutions. This is another great example of how Adobe and Microsoft’s ongoing strategic partnership helps make work both frictionless and secure for our joint customers.

All of the ground-breaking new functionality introduced today in Adobe Document Cloud focuses on giving our customers, partners, and their customers more flexibility, more security and more options to deliver great digital experiences at any scale. Learn moreabout the new functionality and integrations in Adobe Sign. Learn more about Microsoft Informaton Protection support in Acrobat DC and Acrobat Reader.

Chit Wai, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Transport and Communications, said Myanmar would leapfrog in terms of technology to catch up with developed countries in the region.

“We can now say that our dream to see a fully-connected digital society is not far away. To bridge Myanmar to the future 5G digital world, the government will create a favourable environment for innovation and investment when 5G arrives,” he said. The official pledged to create a high-speed platform to improve infrastructure and build capacity to e-serve Myanmar citizens.

Currently, the mobile network has connected over 90 per cent of the population while the telephone density has reached 105 per cent, improving eight times from 2013 when only 13 per cent had a mobile phone. Now, 80 per cent of people in Myanmar have a smartphone, he said. According to the statistics, the national fiber backbone has reached 68,000 kilometres, and the international bandwidth is now 445Gbps, 15 times higher than five years ago.

“With these 5G readiness, we are now looking forward to enjoy the benefits of 5G to further boost our ambition. We aim to cover 50 per cent of the population with high speed internet access by 2020. Myanmar citizens should enjoy 100Mbps high speed internet in cities, and at least 20Mbps internet speed in rural areas,” he said.

He said the deployment of 5G networks will emerge between 2020 and 2030. 5G radio access will be built upon both new radio access technologies and existing LTE-based wireless technologies. Breakthroughs in wireless network innovation will also drive economic and social growth in entirely new ways.

“We will enhance the availability and boost the quality of our 4G network before the 5G era, to smoothly improve user experience from 4G to 5G ,” he said.

Myo Swe, deputy director general at the Posts and Telecommunications Department, discussed the three key challenges Myanmar must address in its digital transformation journey.

“Firstly, we must have a clear spectrum strategy. We need a harmonised, continuous and large spectrum band as well as efficient 5G oriented spectrum regulations. Secondly, our telecom sites should be ready before 5G arrives, including the site density, space and power, among others .

“The third challenge is that industry partners need to provide a mature ecosystem. Finally, operators and partners need to cultivate a business model to smoothly migrate from 4G to 5G,” said Myo Swe.

Myanmar will review and release the revised spectrum roadmap in the first quarter of 2019. Myanmar National Broadband Whitepaper will be released, and the second 5G forum will be held next year, he said.

IN A MOVE to drive forward science, technology and innovation in Thailand, the “6-6-10” strategic plan has been announced by the Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA).

The strategy focuses on six research pillars, six frontiers of research and 10 technology development groups. The NTSDA will focus its attention on the strategy in collaboration with other organisations and the universities in an effort to make real-life changes and improve the country’s economy, it announced.

The six research pillars include the current five priority research areas supported by NSTDA: bioscience and biotechnology, nano-science and nano-technology, electronics and information technology, material and manufacturing technology, and energy technology. Added to the mix is “agenda-based research” to address the country’s current needs.

The agenda-based research will include  niche research such as dual-use technology, rail and modern transport, medical devices and assistive technology to aid the disabled.

The six frontiers of research include the cutting edge of technological inquiry, and were picked to help address the new 20-year national strategy. They are quantum computing, bionics, nano robotics, terahertz, DNA data storage, and atomic precision bio imaging and plant electric circuits.

Meanwhile, the 10 technology development groups involve the targeted industries with direct and tangible impacts on the country’s economy and competitive advantages. They are biochemicals, cosmeceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, precision medicine, medical devices and implants, food and feed, precision agriculture, mobility and logistics, energy, and dual-use defence.

Narong Sirilertworakul, president of NSTDA, said that to drive the six frontier areas and 10 technology development groups, a national science and technology infrastructure is required as an enabler of science, technology, and innovation research and development.

The specific required national science and technology infrastructure includes the National Biobank Centre, Genome Research Centre of Thailand, Thailand Super Computer Centre, Centre for Cyber-Physical Systems, and Centre for Life Cycle Assessment.

“NSTDA is transforming from the national science and technology development centre into one of the key drivers of the national science, technology, and innovation enablers. With the research and development capability and technology management experience of NSTDA, we are confident that we can support and expand real-world economic impact research, in order to help drive the country’s economy and competitiveness,” said Narong.

The NSTDA aims to create a Bt50 billion economic impact in 2019, which is five times larger than the agency’s R&D spending of Bt10 billion for that year.

In 2018, NSTDA created Bt45 billion worth of science, innovation, and technology R&D impact on the country’s economy, he noted..

Last year alone, NSTDA transferred science, innovation and technology to industry through 261 projects and 335 organisations that created an economic impact of Bt45 billion. It also encouraged Bt14 billion of investments in science, innovation and technology in the services and manufacturing sectors, said Narong.

Chai Wutiwiwatchai, director of the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec) said that in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data, the country needs to have a national super-computer centre to support advanced sciences, innovation and technology R&D. Nectec is working on establishing such a centre over the next three years. To be located at the Thailand Science Park, The National Super Computer Centre, will have a budget of about Bt800 million from 2019 to 2021.

Moreover, Chai said, to integrate the power of the researches that Nectec is keen on, there is also the need for a cyber-physical centre that would integrate and combine related research including into sensors, the Internet of Things (IoT) and AI. Part of the national S&T infrastructure, the Cyber-Physical Centre would over the next three years aim to encourage participation of 50 organisations both private and government, as well as educational institutes.

AI a key area

“AI and Big Data is the next big thing, so Nectec also has the Thai People Map and Analytics Platform (TAMAP) with the aim to collect citizens’ data such as ID number, address, and career as well as health, finances and welfare. This citizen data will be used to drive Thailand to information-based policy decision-making,” said Chai.

Moreover, the National Metal and Material Technology Centre under NSTDA recently joined hands with Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation (NEDO) and Teijin Nakashima Medical. The latter is a Japanese developer of knee prosthetics. The grouping will co-invest, co-research and co-develop to further improve knee prosthesis targeted to Asian people.

MTEC’s researchers had been transferred R&D knowledge held by NEDO for the design and development of knee prostheses, along with a Bt20-million machine to test durability of prosthetics. As a result, Teijin Nakashima Medical delivered a commercialised product called “Future Knee” to the Japanese market. It can help 200 patients a year.

NSTDA is also involved in helping establish a joint venture company linking a Thai company and Teijin Nakashima Medical. They aim to encourage the local development of advanced medical machines, as well as to be the key mechanism in R&D to drive the industrial supply chain.

Additional, the Electrical and Electronic Products Testing Centre (PTEC) has set up a testing lab for portable-sized batteries of 600 kilowatts. They can boast Daimler and the Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant as customers. Daimler will invest in developing the battery assembly plant in Thailand, which is scheduled to commence operations in February. The next month, Daimler will send a battery to be tested at PTEC. It is Daimler’s first battery assembly plant in Asean region and the fourth in the world, and is tangible proof that Thailand has entered the electric vehicle industry.

According to Sunita Bottse, managing director of Supernap Thailand, a major data centre provider, the number of Thailand’s mobile device users has reached 46 million out of the country’s 69 million population, while the number of Internet users is currently around 27 million, up 24 per cent from the previous year.

The widespread use of social media platforms, such as Facebook, Line, Twitter and Instagram, coupled with the high growth rate of e-commerce, social commerce and mobile commerce platforms have led to a huge increase in personal and other data needing secured storage facilities to meet regulatory, privacy and other legal requirements.

For example, Thai banks have to be in compliance with the Bank of Thailand’s regulations on data residency and privacy. Bottse said Supernap Thailand’s data centre at Hemaraj Industrial Estate 2 in Chon Buri province is regarded as one of the most secure facilities in Asean and meets the so-called Tier IV design and operation standards.

The joint venture between Supernap International and Thai partners has already seen about US$100 million (Bt3.28 trillion) invested in the first stage of its Thai facility. Another $300 million is earmarked for further expansion in Thailand, where the current facility has a total land area of 120,000 square metres.

The first-stage facility has two data halls with a combined capacity of 20-megawatts built on an area of 21,000 square metres. The power capacity is equivalent to the electricity used by 6,000 households.

Supernap holds many patents for co-location data centre designs and mission critical operations, including those for dual independent roofs to withstand up to 322 km/h winds and seven layers of physical security surveillance.

One of the most advanced facilities in Asean As one of the most advanced facilities in Asean countries, it is served by eight neutral carriers for global high-speed connectivity required by enterprises in the digital economy as well as by electronic government and other public services.

Bottse said Supernap Thailand aims to tap the data storage demand in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), which covers Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao, where the government has been offering tax and other incentives for foreign and Thai investors to launch digital and other new technology ventures.

Previously, Japanese and other foreign investors were worried about flooding in some areas of Thailand, so Supernap Thailand chose its site in Chon Buri at 110 metres above sea level. High-security data centres also have to ensure that there is no downtime of the facilities, which need power redundancy and other features to meet the Tier IV standards.

Since its opening in the last quarter of 2017, Supernap Thailand has acquired clients for half of its capacity with the remaining leases expected to be sold out in two years.

The Thailand 4.0 initiative has led to a rapid growth of the digital economy along with more use of Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) in various sectors, especially banking, insurance and other financial services.

For example, many Thai banks have moved their customers to mobile platforms and provide pre-approval on mortgage and other loan requests online, resulting in the use of analytic and massive personal data storage.

The market for data storage has expanded 30 per cent over the past year alone, with a hybrid cloud-based model emerging as a preferred choice for on- and off-premise facilities.

For banks, some data are stored on premises, while non-core applications are stored on the cloud service. Supernap Thailand has a number of cloud partners, including AWS and Azure.

According to Thai law, some primary banking and other data cannot be stored outside Thailand.

Poramin, the founder and chief executive officer of Satang Corporation, is one of the pioneers in the cryptocurrency business in Thailand. He first got involved with the virtual currency while he was a student in the Security Informatics Master’s programme at Johns Hopkins University in 2014.

Poramin created Vertcoin, which became the world’s fourth-most valuable cryptocurrency in February 2014, reaching a US$20-million market cap within a week of its launch. Not long before, the bitcoin price had hit $1,300, attracting his attention and leading him to explore how he could participate in the technology.

“When cryptocurrency and blockchain were getting to be known more by Thai people, it was a good opportunity for me to follow my dream,” Poramin told The Nation Weekend in an interview.

The 30-year-old entrepreneur is also the world’s first person to implement stealth addresses in QT-Wallets, improving cryptocurrency anonymity.

As a blockchain enthusiast, he wanted to work in the blockchain development field after graduating in the US. However, there were few jobs at the time that centred on blockchain development.

Undaunted, he returned to his hometown and pursued a far more challenging ambition – launching his own company to develop blockchain technology for Thailand.

“It’s not just about money, it’s about something that I learnt at Johns Hopkins and that can help my country to become a leader in the blockchain industry,” Poramin once said on his company’s website http://www.zcoin.io.

However, at the time he came back to Thailand, the junta government was focussed on cyberwarfare and so Poramin applied for a job as a military officer IT expert in the cyberwarfare department.

At the beginning, Sub-lieutenant Poramin was excited about doing his duty as a cyberwarfare analyst.

In the event of malware breaching cybersecurity systems, it was his job to find out where it came from, how and when the attack took place, and who had released the bug. But over time he got bored with the emphasis on paperwork.

New direction

Poramin quit and in 2016 developed Zcoin, an open source, decentralised coin that focuses on achieving financial privacy for its users while they are transacting on blockchain. The approach was intended to ensure the egalitarian distribution of its coins.

With a claim to fame of having been created by a Thai citizen,  Zcoin is among the top 100 of its kind, according to market capitalisation. It pioneered the use of the “Zerocoin” protocol, which uses zero-knowledge proofs in its privacy scheme to break transaction links between transactions. It was also the first to go live with the “Dandelion” protocol, which hides the originating IP of a sender without the use of TOR or VPNs.

Zcoin has been live since September 2016 and is traded on the world’s top cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Binance, Bittrex and Huobi.

It now trades at Bt160, down from its peak of Bt5,000 per coin, according to its creator.

In 2017, Poramin founded Satang, a financial services company, with Bt50 million in registered capital.

The company was founded with an aim to become the go-to digital asset service provider. Operating within the existing legal framework, it is highly trustworthy, says Poramin, and adheres to international security standards.

The current service from Satang provides an exchange market for trading cryptocurrency on Satang Pro, formerly known as TDAX.

Among five exchanges in Thailand, TDAX is the second largest with daily trade volumes of cryptocurrencies estimated at Bt100 million and about 30,000 investors trading daily, he said.

So far, 18 cryptocurrencies are kept on the trading market but only five currencies are trading, according to the CEO.

With the aim to encourage people to use more cryptocurrency in their daily lives, Satang plans to launch Satang App and Satang Shop next year to help facilitate people in using the coins to sell or buy goods online, Poramin added.

Satang App is an e-wallet that would allow consumers to make payments via PromptPay infrastructure.

Satang Shop is an online shop that enables cryptocurrency payments.

Both features will enable e-commerce vendors to accept cryptocurrencies, and online buyers to pay with them. And using it is simple, involving registering as a member, Poramin said.

If the vendors are confident in the value of the coins they could keep them for as long as they want or they could convert cryptocurrencies into cash through Satang Pro, he said.

“Our goal is to make 3 per cent of the total Thai population, or 2 million people, use digital coins in their real lives. I want them to spend it to buy goods or products, not just use it for speculation,” he said.

Poramin also plans to launch asset-backed cryptocurrencies in the future.

The value of coins now depends on supply and demand but if the coins have assets backing them up – for example, a condominium – it will attract more people to own them as it would be more reliable than just speculation, he explained.

Taking the technology further

In addition to cryptocurrency, Poramin is passionate about blockchain, an open, distributed ledger that can efficiently record transactions between two parties and in a verifiable and permanent way.

His thesis at Johns Hopkins was about how blockchain could be used for money transfers in which the identities of the sender and the recipients would not be known to people outside the transaction, nor would efforts to trace the transfer be possible.

His technology was different to that of the “digital gold” bitcoin, a decentralised digital currency without a central bank or single administrator. That currency can be sent user-to-user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries, and people can still know who is involved in the transactions.

Poramin was a key player in the recent introduction of blockchain in Thai politics, when the Democrat Party’s leader was for the first time chosen in a primary election involving more than 120,000 voters.

Due to distrust among the party’s candidates, Poramin last month helped the Democrats tap the potential of this new technology, which offers increased transparency along with other benefits.

The party’s primary vote for its leader utilised the Zcoin blockchain, also marking Thailand’s first large-scale electronic voting with two sets of data involved: identification documents and vote tallies, he explained.

In his view, Thailand has the potential to utilise the advanced technology in a national election. It would be possible to see it implemented in the next few years, if pressure by voters and candidates increased.

He said election organisers could develop electronic-voting machines and use blockchain to store the voting data.

“I believe we’ve achieved a huge milestone in our country’s political history and hope other political parties or even governments, not just in Thailand but elsewhere in the region, can look to using blockchain technology in enabling large scale e-voting,” Poramin said.