Trio unite to build digital workforce
The Digital Economy Promotion Agency (Depa), TBN Corporation and Kasetsart University have partnered to help develop a skilled digital workforce to bridge the demand gap for personnel in the country.
The partners plan to use the lowcode development platform to train the workers, targeting more than 100 skilled professionals within the first year of operation, increasing to around 1,000 in three years.
The low-code development platform provides a development environment for creating application software through a graphical user interface.
The pilot project is scheduled for personnel at Kasetsart University, especially at the Sriracha campus, which could serve the digital ecosystem at the Eastern Economic Corridor.
The partners estimate the project can generate domestic economic value of at least 10 billion baht per year in the future.
According to Depa president and chief executive Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin, the economy desperately needs a skilled digital workforce, especially as it shifts towards digital transformation.
All organisations, both IT-intensive and non-IT firms, face a shortage of digital workers to deal with business challenges caused by digital disruption, he said.
Previously Depa collaborated with various state agencies and private enterprises to offer many digital workforce training programmes that could produce 30,000 trainees annually. However, demand for a skilled digital workforce totals 100,000 employees per year.
Mr Nuttapon said low-code platform literacy is a core demand for driving digital transformation in the country.
He said the pilot project provides a collaborative network to develop high-quality digital personnel, elevating skills and fostering employment opportunities in the industry.
The goal is to empower trained workers to become key drivers advancing the country’s digital industry, said Mr Nuttapon.
Ensuring sufficient skilled digital workers will allow organisations to undergo rapid and efficient digital transformation, creating significant economic value for the country, he said.
Panayu Sirikrachangsri, chief executive of TBN Corporation, a provider of the Mendix low-code platform in Thailand, said the importance of developing digital personnel is crucial to building competitiveness in the digital business sector.
Mendix is the world’s leading lowcode platform, making it an innovative solution for cultivating digital talent, he said.
With Mendix, individuals can acquire the necessary skills within one month and immediately enter the job market in the digital industry, said Mr Panayu.
Sathaporn Chuepeng, dean of the engineering faculty at Sriracha campus, Kasetsart University, said the campus aims to equip students with digital literacy skills and the understanding to cope with rapid changes in technology.