TVET (Industry 4.0) Programme in Thailand

ITEES trained 17 specialists from the Office of Vocational Education Commission (OVEC), Thailand, over an 8-day Skills Upgrading Course in Robotics and Smart Systems from 20 to 29 Mar 2023 in Singapore.

The Thailand Government has introduced “Thailand 4.0” as the next economic development blueprint aimed at pulling Thailand out of the middle-income trap, and developing it as a high-income country and transforming it into a smart nation where creativity and innovation becomes an integral part of businesses.

In line with this nationwide strategy, OVEC identified the efficacy of Industry 4.0 which is relevant and increasingly important in the digitization of manufacturing. In short, Industry 4.0 is referred to as the fourth industrial revolution. From the first industrial revolution (mechanisation through water and steam power) to the mass production and assembly lines using electricity in the second, the fourth industrial revolution will take what was started in the third with the adoption of computers and automation and enhance it with smart and autonomous systems fueled by data and machine learning. As such, OVEC aims to create knowledge workers who are connected and familiar with the digital age of economic development around the world, in particular, the Industry 4.0 initiative.

On top of that, the move towards Thailand 4.0 as a recent government initiative has resulted in the rise of technology, innovation and smart business in Thailand which has caused an increasing demand and shortage of competent workers who have the knowledge and relevant technical skills.

This course aimed to enhance the technical competency in addition to introduce new skills in line with Thai 4.0 in the area of Robotics and Smart Systems. This would in turn enable TVET institutions in Thailand to develop a pool of highly competent leaders and trainers who are familiar with the current trend and demand of Industry 4.0 so as to incorporate its key concepts and applications into their TVET delivery.