BANGKOK(NNT) – The National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) has presented research projects at the NSTDA Beyond Limits: a Sustainability Impact event, presenting Bio-Circular-Green economy development guidelines for the industrial sector to promote national and economic development.
NSTDA President Narong Sirilertworakul said at the event the agency has been developing the NSTDA Beyond Limits: 6-6-10 concept this year to promote six research pillars, six frontier research, and ten technology development groups as guidelines to promote advanced scientific, technological, and innovative expertise which will help raise national capacity in economic development.
At the event, the NSTDA has showcased many of the key research projects it conducted in 2019, one of which was the introduction of concentrated rubber into asphalt for road paving, substituting for a commercial rubber concentrate application. This new material has been used to pave a total of 1,850 kilometers of roadway in Bangkok and other provinces, creating a positive economic impact worth 1.2 billion baht.
Other highlighted projects include the manufacturing of plastic bags to contain food waste – bags which degrade in 3-4 months, and the development of AI for the Thai artificial intelligence platform. These projects comply with the NSTDA strategy and help promote the government’s Bio-Circular-Green or BCG Economy model with practicality, and may become a key driver for S-Curve industries development.
The NSTDA chief said the agency’s research projects next year will emphasize the BCG model, focusing on four economic groups namely agriculture and food, health and medicine, energy and biochemical materials, tourism and the economy. Projects in these categories include high-density fish farm baskets, a Thai dairy industry upgrade, and the next phase of the AI for Thai development.
The NSTDA is now working with the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center to improve the performance and extend applications of AI for Thai to become a Big Data platform for BCG industries. The agency is also promoting the development of biomass power plants to meet energy demand in Thailand and the ASEAN region, a project which has received a 30 billion baht budget approval from Cabinet.
