Thailand approves first national big data strategy (2025‑2027)

On 27 July, Thailand’s cabinet approved a draft “Big Data Utilisation Strategy” for 2025‑2027, submitted by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society. The plan, the first to embed big‑data policy at the national level, aims to build a data‑driven economy, improve public services and accelerate AI adoption. Key objectives include expanding the economic value generated by big‑data use by more than 35 % year‑on‑year, placing Thailand among the world’s top‑25 in digital competitiveness by 2027, and training over 160 000 data and AI specialists.

The strategy is organised around four pillars: (1) development of data infrastructure such as a government cloud, data catalogue and national big‑data platform; (2) promotion of data use in priority sectors like health, tourism, environment, agriculture and commerce; (3) deployment of AI in administration and industry, including Thai‑language AI models and datasets; and (4) talent development to address current shortages of data and AI expertise. The plan also seeks to resolve structural issues such as fragmented data management, cybersecurity and privacy concerns, and gaps in legal and physical infrastructure.