Data management could be magic bullet for Thai economy

An annual conference of the Thailand Development Research Institute has revealed that the country is lagging behind in exploiting data for upgrading business and the economy. This is disturbing news indeed. 
Data management may seem a small issue compared to big engines like private investment, which drive the national economy. But the fact is that a 20-per-cent improvement in data management could boost economic growth by almost by 1 per cent (0.82 per cent) – equivalent to almost Bt80 billion annually.
As such, better data management could at the very least maintain economic growth this year at 3-4 per cent (the predicted figure) and might even boost it towards 5 per cent, despite a low forecast for private investment of just 2.5 per cent this year.
But as the conference was told, many Thai small and medium-sized enterprises operate without accounting books and thus still cannot utilise data and information technology as a simple but powerful tool to boost their business.
The question is, who will lend a helping hand to drive the much-needed improvement of data and information management in Thai businesses and the wider economy?
Sutipunt Bongsununt