On 11st January 2023, Dr. Suttipong Thajchayapong, Research Team Leader, together with Dr. Pawarat Nontasil, Researcher of Strategic Analytics Networks with Machine Learning and AI Research Team (SAI), Data Science and Analytics Research Group (DSARG), NECTEC, NSTDA, joined in the AI for Social Good: 2nd Virtual Project Meeting as an expert team from government sector. The other organizations that also participated in the meeting were including the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), the Australian National University (ANU), the National University of Singapore (NUS), and the Office of National Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Policy Council (NXPO).
The 1st draft reports of 4 projects were presented in the meeting, including (1) Responsible Data Sharing, AI Innovation and Sandbox Development: What are the fundamental obstacles to accessing medical and healthcare data in Thailand & how can these be mitigated using data sharing guidelines and through the development of a digital health sandbox, (2) Raising Awareness of the Importance of Data Sharing and Exchange to Advance Poverty Alleviation in Thailand: Poverty Reduction in Thailand, (3) AI in Pregnancy Monitoring: What are the technological challenges that Bangladesh would need to prepare for embed AI into the continuous pregnancy monitoring system?, and (4) Mobilizing AI for Maternal Health in Bangladesh (MAMaH)
Regarding the project titled “Raising Awareness of the Importance of Data Sharing and Exchange to Advance Poverty Alleviation in Thailand”, Dr. Suttipong participated in this project by providing sharable information related to the Thai People Map and Analytics Platform (TPMAP) that targets poverty alleviation, jointly developed with the Office of National Economic and Social Development Council, and the Thai Small and Medium Enterprise for Government Procurement System (SME-GP), jointly developed with the Office of SME Promotion to promote SME access to government procurement. Dr. Sarah Logan presented the 1st draft project report, which illustrated initial policy recommendations such as Thai policymakers should consider using a framework to encourage information sharing between government agencies and between provincial authorities and TPMAP, and between the small business sector and SME-GP. Dr. Suttipong added that as a researcher from NECTEC, NSTDA, we are looking for tangible results that can actually be used. Therefore, if the final results/findings of the project could lead to further discussion with policy makers who currently run TPMAP and SME-GP on what further actions should be implemented, this will bring great benefit to the country.