Celebrating ITU's new premises in Bangkok: A message from CDS

Good Morning, Mrs Archara Panyavanija, Assistant Secretary General of the NBTC, Atsuko Okuda, the Regional Director of ITU in Asia and the Pacific, and distinguished guests.?

Let me begin by thanking the ITU for inviting faculty and students from Thammasat University to attend this Open House Event and congratulations to the ITU on this wonderful new premise that is supported by the NBTC.?

Thammasat University’s School of Global Studies and the Centre of Digital Technology and Society, have engaged with the ITU for several years on various initiatives. The Centre's Dipendra KC authored the ITU's study of E-Learning in Thailand: Mapping the Digital Divide, and I wrote the Empowering communities in Asia and the Pacific through school connectivity report with the support of CDS’ Yannik Mieruch . We’ve been pleased to support ITU’s Girls in ICT Day events in Thailand by conducting Technology for Good Challenge workshops for Thai youth in 2021, and this year graduate students ran ICT for Migrant Girls training for Myanmar migrant youth in Thailand. These graduate students also fundraised to establish a computer lab at a migrant learning centre to help close the digital divide for migrant youth in Thailand. Such collaborations with the ITU have enriched the learning and capacity of faculty and students.?

The Centre of Digital Technology and Society has a mission well aligned with the ITU’s mission to connect the unconnected. We conduct research and facilitate dialogue on the social impact of digital technologies while supporting capacity development for an inclusive and equitable digital economy.?

Our capacity development work has focused on the development of digital skills assessment tools, digital skills training for marginalised groups and the development and delivery of academic programs on the digital economy, and digital social innovation for sustainability.?

Our research is wide-ranging but has pillars of research focused on education, the gig and platform economy, the digital divide and empowering marginalised communities. Faculty and graduate students are currently engaged in studying the policies and initiatives to close the digital divide in education in ASEAN economies, and the impact of digital connectivity on learning outcomes in Thailand, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam. Under this connectivity pillar of research, we also study how new business models and corporate mindsets can help close the digital divide.?

We also have a pillar or research focused on the platform economy and its impact on socio-economic relations in Thailand and Cambodia. Under the empowerment pillar, we've conducted research on how platform gig workers network using digital tools to provide mutual aid and develop solidarity. We are also studying how migrant organisation leaders engage with and deliver services to migrants using digital media. Right now, our Myanmar researchers Nang Lao Wann Si and Mra Pann San are in Samut Sakhon doing research supported by Partners Asia to understand migrants' use of digital technologies and how they can support their lives and learning needs. In India, we are studying how the growth in connectivity for education is generating new forms of empowerment for female youth in rural areas.

Through collaboration with the ITU and ITU partners, we hope to expand our research and capacity development activities. The ITU’s mission in the Asia Pacific is fundamental to achieving sustainable development, especially in this period of rapid societal change due to digital technologies. These new premises will greatly support ITU's important work and we look forward to further collaborations with the ITU and helping the ITU achieve its mission. Thank you.