DGA on course to create one-stop shop
The Digital Government Development Agency (DGA) is attempting to consolidate services and licences across all state agencies into a one-stop online platform.
The Digital ID programme will let citizens access their data and digital copies of their information like birth certificates through a self-service portal.
Within five years, at least 120 citizen services and 300 business-related licences are expected to be available.
“The effect of the Digital Government Act this May will accelerate digital government in Thailand to improve government service quality and increase the efficiency of back-end management,” said Sak Segkhoonthod, president and chief executive of the DGA.
The act covers 100,000 state agencies, government hospitals, schools and subdistrict administrations to comply with the law.
The keys to the scheme are digitisation of internal systems in each agency, making data and services interchangeable, and integration leading to a one-stop service.
Mr Sak said the act sets up a digital government development commission chaired by the prime minister with the DGA as secretary of the commission.
As part of the programme, the DGA must draft a fiveyear roadmap to foster digital development.
Within two years, the DGA also plans to set up a government data exchange to establish a secure standard of interchanging government data.
Previously, different state agencies exchanging data needed to sign an agreement that could take six months to implement, but under this law the exchange would be automated.
For the first time, the act will also mandate state agencies to ensure data transparency, accountability and updated and accurate data keeping.
Meanwhile, it will mandate the government to open data to the public, except data that violates privacy and harms national security.
It also aims to open data on traffic, water management, weather, agriculture and more that would allow private, state and academic players to leverage the information to develop new services and innovations.
In the short term, after the Bank of Thailand endorses Digital ID by yearend, the DGA will open a citizen portal where people can access their own data and save their personal data from at least 20 citizen-related licences — birth certificates, driving licences, government welfare cheques, household registrations and other documents — on their mobile devices.
Digital ID will help ensure identity protection.
The DGA estimates that 5,000 government services within five years will offer 120 key citizen-related licences on the platform, using a single form to apply online. Eventually, 400 business-related licences will be available through https://biz.govchannel.go.th.