BIG DATA is the fabric of today’s digital society. Understanding, analyzing, and leveraging it can help businesses, as well as regulators, transform operations and deliver better experiences to internal and external stakeholders.

In the government and public sector, big data can help solve traffic congestion issues, health and safety issues, and even civic issues, at scale. However, in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, not many countries have the big data skills needed to facilitate the creation of such use cases and applications.

Thailand understands this. Hence, its Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) has decided to leverage its newly created Government Big Data Institute (GBDI) to train 1,000 government officers on big data skills in 2020.

The first batch of 200 officers has already been trained by GBDI, signaling the institute’s preparedness to deliver on DEPA’s expectations.

At present, the Thai government’s big data institute has 25 data scientist but plans are in place to grow headcount to 40 in the coming year. Hiring new staff in this space is definitely challenging, which is why GBDI will explore talent pools among government scholarship students, the private sector, and university researchers.

According to local media, DEPA is working with about 40 government agencies in the country to not only help them develop infrastructure but also understand big data and enhance how data is managed.

Of the 1,000 officers to be trained next year, 500 will be at the beginner level, 300 at the intermediate level, and 200 at the advanced level.

Those trained at the intermediate and advanced levels are expected to help train others in their agencies, expanding the knowledge base in each body.

When ready, Thailand can join the ranks of countries such as Malaysia and Australia with capabilities that will enable its transition to a smarter, more digital nation and prepare it to launch the smart cities it has been working on so tirelessly on since 2016.

Truth be told, big data is something that every nation needs to focus on, including those leading the pack such as Singapore and the United States.

It is a skill that helps make sense of the fundamental building block of our digital world, and hence, with the new technologies such as the internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) becoming more common, big data skills are key to innovative, intelligent, supportive solutions.