NSTDA President led a team of executives unveiling the “6-6-10” strategy for year 2019 and highlighting key achievements made in 2018 at the press conference held on 13 December 2018 at the Sukosol Hotel Bangkok.
Dr. Narong Sirilertworakul, NSTDA President, revealed that the “6-6-10” strategy represents 6 Research Pillars, 6 Frontier Research และ 10 Technology Development Groups (TDGs). The new strategy aims to strengthen science, technology and innovation (STI) in order to enhance the nation’s competitiveness, drive the economy and support Thailand 4.0 agenda. Six research pillars -- consisting of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Electronics and Information Technology, Material and Manufacturing Technology, Energy Technology and Agenda–based Technology – aims to develop solutions for current challenges. In order to build the strong foundation for future development, six areas of frontier research are identified as Quantum Computing, Bionics, Nano Robotic, Terahertz, DNA Data Storage and Atomic Precision Bioimaging & Plant Electric Circuits. Finally, ten TDGs are based on capabilities that NSTDA has developed over the past decades and will be fully exploited to directly address national economic development. Ten TDGs are 1) Precision Agriculture, 2) Food & Feed, 3) Biochemicals, 4) Cosmeceuticals, 5) Biopharmaceuticals, 6) Precision Medicine, 7) Medical Devices & Implants, 8) Dual-use Defense, 9) Mobility & Logistics and 10) Energy.
To effectively carry out research and innovation, in 2019 NSTDA will be a key driver to push forward an establishment of national S&T infrastructure. This new infrastructure includes National Biobank, Genome Research Center of Thailand, Thailand Supercomputer Center, Center for Cyber–Physical Systems and Center for Life Cycle Assessment and will function at the national level to fully serve research and innovation communities in Thailand.
NSTDA President further reported the performance and achievements made over the past year. A number of innovative solutions have been highlighted, including an application of protease as mycotoxin binder for animal feed, natural preservatives for food and feed produced from egg white lysozyme, knee joint prostheses designed for anatomy and usage of Asian people, H-FAME technology to produce high quality biodiesel, a flexible-substrate wastewater treatment system for biogas production and a mobile application for use in the diagnosis of rice disease, for instance.
In 2018, NSTDA published 546 scientific papers, filed 383 IP applications and carried out 261 projects transferring technologies to 335 recipient organizations. The Agency has generated a 45,000 million baht economic and social impact and was instrumental in raising a 14,000 million baht investment in science, technology and innovation made by manufacturing and service sectors.
Through various programs promoting research and innovation in Thai private sector, NSTDA obtained 485 applications for technology licenses under the 30,000 Baht-per-technology campaign called Thailand Tech Show, certified 404 R&D projects performed by enterprises worth over 1.3 billion baht for 300% tax exemption, approved 226 new products and services qualified for government procurement program under Thai Innovation List, and supported 87 projects under Startup Voucher program. Under the Innovation Technology Assistance Program or ITAP, NSTDA supported 1,610 SMEs to carry out research projects in 2018. With a 737 million baht investment, ITAP was able to generate an economic impact of over 3 billion baht. NSTDA testing labs and centers performed over 50,000 tests worth approximately 180 million baht for clients from public and private sectors.
On the manpower development mission, NSTDA granted 790 scholarships to high-school, undergraduate and graduate students and post doctoral fellows, accepted 324 students and visiting researchers from Thailand and overseas to work in NSTDA laboratories and hosted the 15th Asia-Pacific Conference on Giftedness 2018 (APCG2018).
In 2018, NSTDA has been entrusted to implement important projects under the Thai Government’s “Big Rock” program. These projects are Coding at School project aiming to develop computer coding skill among children, Fabrication Lab project enhancing STEM education and developing young innovators, establishment of National Biobank, promoting herbal production with plant factory, and strengthening medical device industry.