Bangkok--15 Nov--FYI
In an attempt to underscore the need for Thailand’s intellectual infrastructure development, the Office of Knowledge Management and Development (OKMD) is joining forces with Thailand Knowledge Park (TK Park), Thailand Creative and Design Centre (TCDC) and the National Discovery Museum Institute (NDMI) to organize the “OKMD Knowledge Festival 2013” under the theme "Knowledge is Opportunity" from December 2 to 3 at the Imax Cinema, Siam Paragon.
Marking Thailand’s remarkable effort at knowledge management, the festival aims to raise awareness of investment in knowledge and creativity among designers, educators, professionals in the public and private sectors and members of the general public. According to OKMD, knowledge investment is of real significance to the creation of new career opportunities.
Essentially the festival sets out to encourage Thais in all sectors to realize the importance of developing their potential to meet the challenges of the ever changing world and to tap the opportunities it creates.
In its second consecutive year, the festival brings together leading thinkers to share their views on new knowledge in the present economic environment.
Songsak Premsuk, OKMD Chairman of Executive Board, says: "OKMD is an organization that specializes in knowledge management for the public sector. Our goal is to develop thinking and increase the knowledge and the intellect of the Thai people through different forms of the public learning process. Our mission is to groom Thai youth by improving and developing the country’s better and bigger intellectual infrastructure that serves the needs of our target groups and suits the demands of ever-changing economic and global trends.
“So OKMD is organizing this festival under the theme "Knowledge is Opportunity" in the hope of collecting findings from the event to add on to the development of more modern learning centres in Thailand that not only meet the needs of all target groups but fit development trends of the digital age at the present time and in the future as well.”
The Knowledge Festival consists of the following core elements:
- The keynote opening address by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on “The Government and the Development of Thailand’s Intellectual Infrastructure”
- An academic symposium on new branches of knowledge to keep pace with global competition featuring a panel of speakers including thinkers and creatives. They will be sharing their experience and views on trends and tendencies in national learning infrastructure development in different countries.
- An exhibition on world-class and local learning centres and their impact on national development policy. The exhibition is a joint effort between OKMD and organisations under its umbrella: TCDC, TK Park and NDMI (better known as Museum Siam).
OKMD Executive Committee Dr. Sirikorn Maneerin, who Chairs a TK Park Subcommittee, says the two-day academic seminar aims to promote a better conception of, and the need for, intellectual capital investment in Thailand.
“We need to develop new learning centres that offer modern services. We also need to create new bodies of knowledge that are conveniently accessible. The topic of the seminar will serve these purposes. OKMD has selected 16 leading speakers from all over the world including senior executives from the private and public sectors and prominent professionals in different fields to come and share their views on developing a policy, strategy and approach to creating learning structures for the modern world.”
Prominent speakers include Dr Lalit Johri, Director of the Oxford Advanced Management and Leadership Programme at Sa?d Business School, University of Oxford; Elaine Ng, CEO of the National Library of Singapore; Dr. Richard Baraniuk, Victor E Cameron professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University and founder and leader of the open education movement as well as Connexions and OpenStax College; and Raymond Ravaglia, Associate Dean and Director of Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies who’s also cofounder and Executive Director of Stanford’s Education Program; and
Other speakers are Woraphan Lokitsathaporn, Managing Director of Sataphorn Books, the publisher of the novel “Juthathep Gentlemen” that inspired Channel 3’s recent hit series; film director and producer with GMM Tai Hub Jira Malikul; Somrak Narongwichai, Deputy Managing Director and Programming Director of BEC World Plc; and Waradee Wasawanon, Public Relations and Marketing Director of Line Thailand Co Ltd.
The “Knowledge is Opportunity” exhibition presents a collection of world-class overseas and national learning centres that are key to national development, says Araya Ma-in, Vice President of OKMD who’s currently its acting President.
Divided into three main sections, the exhibition offers a fresh perspective on the relations between knowledge creation and opportunities of the 21st century.
The first section introduces leading nations that are renowned for their success in changing the face of their countries and developing their own people on the basis of their intellectual infrastructure and learning strategy development to meet the challenges of rapid global changes.
The second section tells the story of OKMD as an organisation that promotes public learning. At the heart of its mission is knowledge management for the modern world as key to creating opportunities for new-generation Thais in different fields and preparing them for the challenges on the world stage. The section also introduces organisations that operate under the umbrella of OKMD: TCDC, TK Park and NDMI.
The third section zooms in on learning centres of the future by presenting Thailand's new substance- and knowledge-rich learning centre concepts. These centres set out to serve the needs of a new generation of Thai people with their stylish design and multi-purpose functions. They're compatible with the learning behaviour of new and future generations.
Songsak of OKMD hopes that the festival will stimulate and inspire members of the Thai society to realise the importance of investment in knowledge creation and of the cooperation between different sectors to turn it into implementation in the near future.
“I believe if all sectors cooperate to turn the Thai society into one based on knowledge as a driver of the country, then we’ll have a new generation of Thais who are full of potential to take the country to the forefront of the global stage," says Songsak.
The Knowledge Festival 2013, themed "Knowledge is Opportunity”, runs from December 2 to 3 at the Imax Cinema on the fifth floor of Siam Paragon. Admission is free. Interested members of the public are welcome. For more information, visit www.okmd.or.th/knowledgefestival2013.