Digital payment will be the most powerful IT trend in Thailand next year thanks to PromptPay, the money transfer service under the national e-payment initiative.
Thailand will not become a cashless society by next year, but PromptPay will draw more people to digital payments and digital banking, said Thanachart Numnonda, executive director of IMC Institute.
Mr Thanachart said quick response (QR) code payment services will also have a big effect in driving digital payment activities in 2018, as banks have targeted a large number of merchants to connect with QR payment systems.
"Kasikornbank aims for 1 million merchants to connect digital payments through its QR code system next year, while Siam Commercial Bank is targeting 500,000 merchants," he said yesterday at the "Top Tech Highlights in 2018" forum, hosted by IMC Institute.
Mr Thanachart said eight IT trends in 2018 will be digital payment, the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, cloud computing, cybersecurity, blockchain, augmented reality and virtual reality and artificial intelligence.
Every business will eventually have to adopt IoT technology, as the government's infrastructure plan emphasises smart city projects using plenty of IoT, he said.
"The telecom regulator's approval of 920-925 megahertz spectrum for IoT activities will also boost IoT devices utilisation because connecting to the internet will be cheaper," said Mr Thanachart.
The government sector will focus more on big data technology for predictive analytics and many agencies are looking for data scientists, although many local organisations may not be ready for the change.
Over the past ten months, people have been focusing on technologies involved in digital transformation, although IT spending has gone into platforms, hardware and devices. The investment has not be carried out to pave the way for digital changes, said Mr Thanachart.
"We are still not maximising the benefits," he said.
Mr Thanachart said that while the country is pushing for Thailand 4.0, most operations are focusing on social marketing and e-commerce, which are not the keys to digital transformation.
Thai SMEs just digitise themselves by selling products online, but they have not applied a digital mindset to the core of their business," he said.
IT investment in the country has been relatively low. There is a digital gap, especially in terms of the public and private sector's digital mindset, said Mr Thanachart.
Over the next five years, the IT industry will be more dynamic, while startups will still be strong and competitive in many countries, he said.
