NIA plots strategic innovation nation
The
Science and Technology Ministry wants to use areabased and crowd-based innovation to drive towards the “Innovation Thailand” brand.
The National Innovation Agency (NIA) has diversified into becoming an innovation accelerator by working with strategic partners and driving innovation to generate 5% of GDP, or adding 1.5 trillion baht to the economy over 10 years.
“Under the Thailand 4.0 initiative, we need to build our brand as an innovation nation, changing from a value-added economy to a value-based creative economy,” said Suvit Maesincee, the science and technology minister, speaking at Innovation Thailand Expo 2018, the first innovation festival in Thailand, which is taking place Oct 4-7 at Bitec.
To achieve “value-based creation”, the country needs to have open innovation for collaboration, knowledge sharing, R&D and use of innovations to not just foster the economy, but also create an inclusive society.
Unlike a “Me Economy”, in which innovation is closed or proprietary, a “We Economy” lets people access knowledge and capital.
Farmers need to become digitally connected smart farmers, and SMEs will need innovation-driven entrepreneurs to provide high-value services.
Mr Suvit said that to bring leapfrog innovation to Thailand, the NIA needs to create area-based innovation, whereby a city or district specialises in creative fields, as well as deeper technology.
This also requires crowd-based innovation in collaboration with the Intellectual Property Department to use geographical indication.
Yothi Medical Innovation District is the first area-based innovation in Thailand that focuses on medical services. This area will be a medical Silicon Valley, Mr Suvit said. This medical district is one of the new government reforms in collaboration with the Education and Public Health ministries.
Thailand imports medical items worth 200 billion baht every year.
“If we produce our own innovative medical devices and research, and catch up with frontier technologies like precision medicine and genomes, this will help strengthen Thailand as a medical hub of Asia,” Mr Suvit said.
If successful, the medical innovation district will contribute 7 billion baht to GDP a year.
INNOVATION ACCELERATOR
The NIA was set up a decade ago.
Executive director Pun-Arj Chairatana said the NIA needs to be a “national innovation accelerator” that bridges innovators and key strategic partners, such as the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, to bring innovation differentiating the 250-million-baht meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (Mice) sector.
In life science technology, the NIA has partnered with the Thailand Centre of Excellence of Life Science, the Creative Economy Agency in design and other food structure creation, and with True Corp on the Cyber Tech Innovation District.
The NIA director said partners will be supported in creating more innovation within the next decade, which will contribute 3-5% of Thailand’s GDP, or 900 billion to 1.5 trillion baht.
At Innovation Thailand Expo 2018, 80 innovation projects in 10 industrial groups are being showcased for innovation awards.