NBTC partners government sector launching "Kati", a smart wristband for the elderly A part of Thailand Smart Living Lab project to leveraging digital tech for improved elderly welfare

Trairat Wiriyasirikul, Acting Secretary General of the NBTC, said that Thailand was currently becoming an aging society, as the proportion of elderly continues to increase. Meanwhile, transformation and progress from digital tech has been startlingly rapid, creating a divide, and limited abilities to adapt between "the elderly" and "new technology". This means that they lack the knowledge and means to access digital tech. As a result, the work of developing quality of life for the elderly in various spheres is still not connected to data and the use of digital tech as it should be. Therefore, boosting the potential for access to government welfare benefits through digital tech for the elderly Is giving additional opportunities to access digital tech. It is promoting the use of digital tech to level up quality of life and reduce economic and social divides.

"NBTC recognizes this crucial issue, so we have promoted and supported Research efforts with funds from the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Research and Development Fund for Public Interest (BTFP). The research focuses on projects increasing potential for access to social and welfare services, and leveraging digital tech for use by the elderly. The program is beneficial as a pathway to boost potential access to social services, and improve quality of life for the elderly with digital tech.

It is also modeling the situation and being a pilot program for delivering welfare services with digital tech to the elderly. BTFP's fund has the great hope of deploying this prototype from its sponsorship of this program, and rolling it out nationwide.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rina Patramanon, Head of the Research Program, talked about the project researching ways to boost potential access to welfare and social services, and the deployment of digital tech among the elderly in general, which has been conducted by the Faculty of Science at Khon Kaen University. This came about with the objective of developing access to social services and leveraging the benefits of digital tech for elderly people. Issues and barriers to such access by the elderly were studied, along with the obligations of relevant bodies in the state sector which currently provide social services to the elderly. The program also analyzed current welfare entitlements, to identify pathways to increase potential access. A prototype situation was created for modeling. It is a pilot system for delivering welfare and social services with digital tech that is appropriate for older people.

Miss Chaturaporn Chokphukhiew from the Faculty of Science at Khon Kaen University commented, "Studies under this program have provided suggestions and pathways to boost the potential of access to welfare and social services, and getting the best benefits from digital tech for elderly people. We have built a pilot IT system of Medical IoT which was developed as a model for delivering services digitally powered by Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G. In this we have received cooperation from no less than 5 separate government agencies with a trial group of 2,000 elderly people in the pilot system. It is also a prototype program which can be incorporated into the practical plans of provincial authorities in the target areas of Lampang, Khon Kaen and Songkhla, with service users registering satisfaction levels of at least 80% in the program."

 The BTFP program's support has enabled the construction of a functional pilot prototype, The government bodies involved comprise BTFP, the Department of Older Persons (DOP), the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS), Program Management Unit for Human Resources & Institutional Development, Research and Innovation (PMU-B), National Health Security Office (NHSO),  IT Center of the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Health (ICT-MOPH), Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI), provincial governors, provincial administrative organizations (PAO), municipalities and other agencies. They came together to consult on the topic of "Planning integrated joint operations to promote welfare among the elderly in the era of 5G Digital Health Innovation" and preparing for Thailand Personal Health AI, which will support and promote the program into its next phase.

Prof. Dr. Sompong Klaynongsruang, Director of Program Management Unit for Human Resources & Institutional Development, Research and Innovation (PMU-B), noted, "The ultimate goal of PMU-B Is fostering the entry of healthy Thai people into their old age with physical and mental health intact, being older people who can change the country's future. Within three years we will certainly see the benefits of health in the community from Personal AI."

Meanwhile, Dr. Lalitya Kongkham, Deputy Secretary General of the National Health Security Office (NHSO) was delighted to support this research program in order to increase the potential access to welfare and social services, and leverage the benefits of digital tech for the elderly. She believed that it was possible to be of assistance by supporting systems of the NHSO for more efficient care of the elderly. Moreover, Mr Prasit Thongthaengthai, Deputy President of Khon Kaen PAO, had the opinion that it is important for the elderly people in the area to receive the correct information, there must be service units located close to the local community, especially at subdistrict hospitals. These units should educate the elderly about the IoT concerning a range of different diseases, for which data must be collected for urgent treatment.

Dr. Surakameth Mahasirimongkol, Director of the IT Center of the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Health (ICT-MOPH) spoke about prioritizing the matter of personalizing information with digital systems so that the elderly would be aware of their existing rights of access to services for each individual, as well as collecting health data for more rapid access to medical services. Dr. Monsak Socharoentham, Senior Advisor and expert on government databases, supported the idea of collecting individual data for each person, with supporting measures to ensure personal data security. Finally, Mrs. Pornnipa Masilirangsi, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Older Persons agreed that the deployment of Personal AI to assist the elderly was consistent with her department's obligations to improve the quality of life for elderly people in every dimension.

The successful prototype from this project researching ways to boost access to welfare and social services and leveraging digital tech is a Box Set. It includes the smart wristband, "Kati", a health monitoring device collecting health data from the elderly. It can measure oxygen concentrations, heartbeat and walking steps. In the future, it will be possible to add Calling Features and SOS Features, reporting the location in the event of an accident to the wearer. There will also be measurements of blood pressure and levels of salinity and sugar in the blood.

The collaboration of Thailand Smart Living Lab on this occasion is considered critical for cooperative integration between ministries, departments and local-level agencies on the ground, as well as local administrators participating in the support of welfare services for the elderly in the age of 5G, through Digital Health Innovation. This will improve quality of life for the elderly with greater health security, and long-term happiness in society. The state sector also gained health data about the elderly for the whole country, in preparation for rolling out Thailand Personal Health AI with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) and other agencies in this network. This is the next step in the objective to improve health for Thais.

"I sincerely hope that this research program will be an important step in powering access to welfare services for the elderly across the country. It will also be part of reducing dependence on welfare from the state, in the matter of medical treatment expenses for the elderly in the future. I support this program to achieve the success which will enable it to become welfare and health policy powered by 5G in the future," added Mr. Trairat.