• Collaboration will focus on driving digitisation in Thailand in support of the country’s 4.0 vision
• Ericsson’s leading 5G solutions will form a testbed for trials of new wireless and network technologies, spectrum sharing, as well as new applications and services for Thailand

The Digital Economy Promotion Agency (Depa) and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) have officially commenced their collaboration on Depa's Thailand Digital Valley - an ambitious project to develop Thailand’s own version of Silicon Valley in the United States.

The launch event included sessions with key stakeholders such as the Federation of Thai Industries, global technology solution providers, and start-ups.

Thailand Digital Valley, located 50 miles east of Bangkok, is expected to become Southeast Asia’s new digital hub that supports Thailand and the region’s digital transformation. The project  is forecast to create  around 20,000 new jobs and attract more than 5 billion baht worth of foreign direct investment annually.

Ericsson and Depa recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate towards driving 5G based digital transformation in Thailand. The collaboration entails sharing best practices, advanced understanding and Ericsson’s state-of-the-art technology to accelerate Thailand’s journey towards becoming a digital economy.

As part of the MoU, Ericsson and Depa will establish an innovation lab (Innolab) in Depa's Thailand Digital Valley in Chonburi province that will serve as a 5G testbed and service centre for trials of new wireless and network technologies, spectrum sharing, as well as new applications and services in Thailand.

“As a 5G leader, who has been in Thailand for 117 years, we are committed to leveraging our leading, trusted solutions and global ecosystem of partners to drive the digital transformation of the country. We look forward to further working with Depa, Thai operators, enterprises and start-ups to unlock the potential of 5G, through the co-creation of 5G use cases,” said Dr. Jesada Sivaraks, Head of Government and Industry Relations, Ericsson Thailand.

“Thailand Digital Valley will play a significant role in uplifting the digital ecosystem of Thailand and prompt the country to become Southeast Asia’s digital hub. It will be the key driving forces for the digital industry, investment atmosphere and global trade and collaboration,” said Dr. Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin, Depa's President & CEO.

According to Depa, Thailand Digital Valley will become the key digital ecosystem that lays the foundation for Thailand to be the new centre of research and development, It will support co-creation of new hardware and smart devices as well as relevant technologies such as Big Data, IoT, AI, Software Convergence, Cloud Innovation and other digital content and services, including animations, games and e-sports.

Ericsson is a global 5G leader and today powers 147 live 5G networks in 63 countries with 24 live 5G standalone networks across the world.