Cybersecurity park targeted

Project intended to aid Asean hub ambitions

The government plans to establish a cybersecurity park as part of its digital innovation park in Chon Buri province. The project is aimed at promoting local cybersecurity startups and developing the digital economy ecosystem.

The Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) is working on drafting the details of the cybersecurity park, which are due by March, before they are passed to the Digital Economy and Society (DE) minister and Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) committee for approval.

The move is part of broader efforts to promote Thailand as the cybersecurity hub of Asean.

ETDA chief executive Surangkana Wayuparb said the proposed park will support cybersecurity for all enterprises in the EEC and facilitate the local startup ecosystem.

She said the park will use the consortium model, comprising the DE Minisry, the private sector, universities and research institutes, including the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center.

The initial budget for the cybersecurity park is yet to be determined.

Mrs Surangkana said ETDA will be responsible for the infrastructure installation plan, cybersecurity system strategy and managing researchers for the project.

“There are many established startups operating in the country, but there are hardly any startups in the cybersecurity sphere, which we predict will be very important for the digital economy ecosystem,” she said.

Mrs Surangkana said all enterprises are increasingly threatened by fraud, scams, hacking, system attacks and malware.

The development of the cybersecurity ecosystem will help the country use a local cybersecurity system rather than constantly purchasing software from abroad.

The 10-billion-baht digital innovation park project is under construction by CAT Telecom, in collaboration with the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand.

The project covers 500 rai owned by CAT in Sri Racha district, Chon Buri.

The park includes a digital innovation, innovation research and residential facility centre. The digital innovation park is further intended to promote the government’s economic development policy for S-curve industries, including robotics, aircraft, digital business, biofuels and biochemicals.

The cybersecurity park is one of five core missions that will be driven by ETDA this year.

The other four are: facilitation of the national digital ID, forming a digital content association, launching the Durian platform to help local e-commerce keep pace with global platforms like YouTube and Facebook, and encouraging the domestic tourism sector via the digital tourism platform.

The Durian platform specifically aims to provide local players with cheaper models for sales and marketing compared with the revenue-sharing ad models provided by foreign players.

Durian will serve all e-commerce activities through a video-sharing website and social media platform.

Mrs Surangkana said t hat l ocal e-commerce and digital businesses pay too much for revenue-sharing advertising programmes on global platforms like YouTube.

Meanwhile, the national digital ID, being overseen by ETDA, is intended to facilitate t he building of platform connectivity.

“The system must precisely provide verified identification as it will help promote digital financial transactions and e-commerce activities, while also reducing fraud online,” she said.

There are several technologies and tools that help business conduct verification through fingerprints and retina scanning, although usage and adoption are lacking.