Good Governance in Digital Era: The Role of Central Agency in Promoting Open Government in Thailand

Abstract

ธรรมาภิบาลThe purpose of this research were to (1) understand the role of the Digital Government Development Agency (DGA), the central agency, in applying digital technology to promote and support Open Government in Thailand; (2) to provide new body of academic knowledge in Open Government. The research applied qualitative method mainly using interview approaches; semi-structured and in-depth interviews, to gather primary information from target respondents who are experienced and well-versed in digital technology. The findings were that the DGA has played important roles in promoting Open Government in Thailand. Digital technologies such as web portals, mobile applications, smart kiosks, and social network had been applied to enhance transparency, encourage e-participation, and build e-collaboration between the DGA and other agencies. The three essential components of Open Government; Open Data, Open Access, and Open Engagement were implemented. The agency, however, still confronts with various problems and limitations such as a lack of policy and implementation clarity, a lack of data exchange network system, low values of collected information, refusal of inter-cooperation in data exchange, and digital divide. It is necessary to initiate partnership with every sector to deal with the challenges, aiming towards open government that all agencies are engaging in enhancing transparency for public administration in digital era.