BANGKOK, Dec. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The Digital Economy Promotion Agency (depa), Thailand, announced the success of the depa Demo Day and presented prizes to the winning digital startup under the depa Smart City Accelerator Program Batch 2, which was organized to promote and support the adoption of digital technology in cities, aimed at leveling up city management in order to enhance development of smart cities in Thailand. The depa Smart City Accelerator Program also aims to improve the quality of life of the people in society so that they can grow with sustainability as the country is moving forward to a fully fledged digital economy and society.

Dr. Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin, President/CEO of depa, Thailand, said that depa by the Smart City Thailand Office has continuously committed to pushing the smart city development across the country over the years via multiple projects initiated to support and promote development of smart cities with collective collaboration with the public and private sectors and local residents in each area designated for developing a smart city through the use of digital technologies and innovations and digital solutions developed by a network of digital startups via the Proof of Concept (PoC) methodology. The chosen digital technologies and innovations have been adapted to solve cities problems associated with urbanization that can respond to people of all segments in society. Digital technologies and innovations were leveraged to achieve the smart city development goals as well as optimized the efficiency management of City Data Platform for sustainable happiness and prosperity of the public. 

One of the most successful digital-driven promotion projects that received an overwhelming response from digital startups is the depa Smart City Accelerator Program Batch 1 which was carried out in collaboration between depa’s Digital Startup Institute and Hubba. The smart city accelerator program aims to demonstrate the constructive progress of smart city development and the possibility to align digital startups and their digital solutions with the needs in urbanization. Therefore, depa and Techsauce teamed up to continue the tangible success of the smart city accelerator program by launching the depa Smart City Accelerator Program Batch 2 that provided a group of 25qualified digital startups with an opportunity to work collaboratively with stakeholders and relevant agencies in the public and private sectors that shared the same passion and goal. They worked closely with each other to acknowledge problems and to find solutions through the adoption of digital technologies in order to correctly address the key issues. Such comprehensive collaboration will lead to future smart city development.

"The presentation of digital solutions developed participating digital startups in the depa Demo Day, which is part of the depa Smart City Accelerator Program Batch 2 project, demonstrated that digital startups have shown efforts and commitment to developing themselves over the past five months to find the best possible solutions to adapt digital technologies and innovations for the highest efficiency in smart city development. Despite having interruptions of the spread of the COVID-19 throughout the accelerator program, all participating digital startups remained determined and committed to delivering the best with an ardent enthusiasm to join the depa Demo Day so as to learn and develop digital technology in collaboration with stakeholders, relevant agencies, and local residents in each area," said President/CEO of depa.

The depa Smart City Accelerator Program Batch 2 kicked off on August 21 and runs until December 17, 2021. There will be showcasing of digital solutions developed by participating digital startups as well as a seminar featuring a number of renown smart city development experts and professionals both in Thailand and aboard to upskill and provide knowledge and understanding for digital startups participating in the program. Other highlights included the practicality and probability test activity by allowing all 25 digital startups to hold talks with relevant officials in each area to test out the practicality and probability of their digital technologies and solutions to see if they have the capability and potential to tackle the city problems in five pilot provinces, comprising Lampang, Khon Kaen, Phuket, Rayong, and Bangkok. Such thought-provoking activities have made digital startups become more understanding and acknowledge the nature, context, characteristics, and difference of each city. Moreover, the accelerator program presented digital startups with opportunities to expand their businesses to each region to make a wide impact in capital and national scales until a smart city is fully developed with potential to respond to the needs of people in the digital-driven era, where digital technology plays a key role in dictating our lifestyle, economy, and society.

The winner of the depa Smart City Accelerator Program Batch 2 Demo Day is AltoTech (AltoTech Co., Ltd.) the operator and provider of Alto Energy Edge System (Automated Energy Management Platform) that provide a solution for helping reduce hotel or building electricity costs through IoT and AI Algorithms. The company receives a cash prize of 300,000 baht. All digital startups still have a chance to join the Business Matching and Networking activity in order to find the right business partners for selling and distributing their products and services. It is the best practical way to explore the new markets and broaden the customer base, especially among investors, agencies and organizations in the public and private sectors, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) so that they will have a wide network and connection. It is also a solution to further drive their businesses to create value added to the country’s economy in the future.

Interested people can follow up on the latest updates and details of the depa Smart City Accelerator Program Batch 2 Demo Day at www.depa.or.th or Facebook: depa Thailand. For more information, The Digital Economy Promotion Agency (depa) Tel. +66-2026-2333 Email. [email protected]