Bangkok--27 Jan--TK PARK
TK park announces the 2017 Operation Plan driving the concept "Learning in Digital Age" for sustainable social and economic development in alignment with the 20-Year National Strategy and Thailand 4.0 Policy with the major target to reinforce and equip people with skills of the 21st Century requiring children and youths to be capable of thinking, analyzing and creating to empower career development in the future and expanding network of Thailand Knowledge Park at all levels including Thailand's largest TK Hub, placing importance to the southern border provinces, supporting outside classroom learning in the Digital Age.
Mr. Rames Promyen, Acting Director of Thailand Knowledge Park or TK park, disclosed "Advanced information technology connects people, shapes development in various dimensions and helps distribute information, news, knowledge and innovation. Changes in Digital Age comes with new opportunities and fuels social and economic growth. On the other hand, population structure inevitably shifts to Aging Society. In 2030 aging people is expected to increase to 25% of total population. Impact from natural environment continues to accelerate. The aforementioned situations impact consumption and life condition while inviting opportunities and challenges for Thai society to encounter and evolve accordingly."
"In the Digital Age, technology plays a key role in daily life of every age. Almost every youngster, workforce and senior people own smart phones and smart devices. Government's effort to developing high-speed Internet network (Broadband) extending coverage to every village nationwide helps reduce gap for knowledge access and provide more convenience. This results in development in various dimensions including career and access to learning source such as local products distributed to Thai and international markets by e-commerce and agriculture knowledge sharing for improved productivity. Information and knowledge can be accessed at fingertip for learning any time and place."
As part of Government ongoing policy to drive and focus, the 20-year National Strategy in accordance with the 12thNational Economic and Social Development Plan plus Thailand 4.0 Policy with major target to nourish and develop people for skills of the 21st Century, creating and developing innovation from science and technology knowledge as well as applying local knowledge to enhance competency and new opportunity ready to upgrade to developed country with high income earning in the next 20 years.
The operation of TK park in 2017 aligns and gears towards reading behavior, learning with skills of 21st Century, encouraging children and youths to develop thinking and analyzing skills and creativeness as a basis to grow professionally in the future through reading and learning in Learning Park prototype in central area and network of regional branches from the reprocessed service catered to requirements in Digital Age, emphasizing learning online via Digital TK website, TK Public Online Library and Social Media in order to disseminate knowledge useful for children and youths who are nation's future power to learn and develop themselves conveniently.
TK Public Online Library offers 10,000 books and multimedia from Thailand and foreign countries as well as knowledge body and entertainment, recording 23,000 registered members and 70,000 borrowings throughout 1 year of service. The Library serves as the knowledge source distributed to 16 million children for self learning and development." Rames adds.
In terms of intelligent infrastructure development, we cooperate with local network agencies to extend opportunity and reduce gap of new knowledge access for children, youths and people nationwide. Today Agency network of TK Park opens in 19 locations. For the fiscal year of 2017, two new locations will be open; 1) Pattani Knowledge Park, Thailand's largest learning park in cooperation with Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPC) and Muang Pattani Municipal Office and 2) TK Square Korat in cooperation with Nakhon Ratchasima Municipality. The operating Knowledge Park of network agency will connect auto library, book database and learning media with the Knowledge Park prototype for TK Park network users to search and study conveniently.
Moreover, the discussion forum "Learning in Digital Age and Expectations of TK park Roles" was organized by Party Network contributing to support and encouragement for efficient learning relevant to the concept "Learning in Digital Age."
Mr. Nithipat Somsamarn, President of Thai Animation & Computer Graphics Association, a Network Party, disclosed "Digital Content is the industry of creativity which becomes today's trend with substantial revenue potential for the country. Therefore we need to develop quality personnel for the industry on a continual basis to support industry growth and income creation by new generation. The collaboration with TK Park in the past and from now on incorporates all integral parts under the cooperation plan from upstream to downstream including training by world-class experts, promotion to use TK Park for information search facilitated by proper place and equipment and activities to showcase works leading to the meeting with professional studio for further employment or cooperation opportunities, known as TK Genesis.
Dr. Srida Tantaathipanit, Board committee of Internet Foundation for the Development of Thailand, unveiled "The Foundation continually cooperates with TK park to support learning in Digital Age by promoting habit of critical access to online media through training and digital media contest, providing opportunity for students and academic personnel to learn and produce multimedia. The winning works are awarded with Royal Trophy and proposed to HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to be used for the Royal projects or any projects considered by the Princess.
Dr. Polapat Udomphol, Business Development Director of Ookbee Co., Ltd., a Network Party co-developing public online library with TK park, said "Today the presence of media has totally changed as evidenced by the statistics of conventional media consumption obviously dominated by online media, confirming that the world has entered the Digital Age at full course. As a result, learning media in the Digital Age has been developed in e-book format and a broad array of platforms to reflect behavior of consumers especially Gen Y and Z, growing up with technology. Knowledge bank from local and international media compiled by TK park, considered most and largest, is available for everyone. The development of digital access will benefit every age due to unlimited learning in terms of time and place.
Mr. Vip Burapadeja, Editor in Chief of Happening Magazine, the popular magazine in the period of unavoidable adjustment to the Digital Age impacting publishing industry, said that we had joined hand with TK park in organizing training for young writers under the project TK Genesis developing writing skills. Following the arrival of Digital Age replacing conventional book and media with online media, we focused on writers understanding for adjustment, highlighting how to create contents to meet demand of target group while conserving the value of literature to attract attention.
Ms. Nathita Supsinwiwat, the youth from the media creation project TK Teen, developing herself from the beginning to today as a personnel asset in mass media industry with a variety of roles including TV show host and lecturer transferring knowledge from generation to generation, said that Digital Age reformulated media industry. At present consumers could produce and become media by themselves. Media creation by media professional required adjustment, information search and access as well as selecting appropriate tool to create effective media.
TK park is committed and sets the operation target to develop Thai population to be capable and ready to cultivate changes and challenges for emerging opportunity in Digital Age featuring ecosystem of learning ideal for lifetime learning of children, youths and people having convenient access to knowledge source every time and place. Organization and personnel of TK park, as a knowledge management provider in Digital Age, redevelop work and creation process and design activity for civil service based on the concept "Learning in Digital Age" pertaining to the policy Thailand 4.0.
TK park schedules the activity to celebrate 12th Anniversary from Tuesday 24th to Sunday 29th of January, 2017 at TK Park, the 8th floor, Dazzle Zone, Central World Shopping Mall. See the exhibition "Roles of Learning Source in Digital Age" and the activities inspiring imagination that meets every lifestyle. Enjoy a lot of special privileges in the event.