National Innovation Agency (Public Organization) (NIA)

The National Innovation Agency (NIA) was established by the Ministry of Science and Technology on October 1, 2003. Since its inception up to September 1, 2009, NIA operated as an autonomous agency, under the supervision and policy guidance of the National Innovation Board, but outside the normal framework of the civil service and state enterprise. From September 2, 2009 onwards, NIA was restructured and became a Public Organization, while remaining under the umbrella of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

NIA plays the leading role in the development of Thailand’s innovation ecosystem by coordinating, networking, fostering, and partnering different organizations from various fields such as academia, technology, industry, finance and investment. Its main focus is on utilizing knowledge management to achieve innovation, which could be employed as the principal tool in improving quality of life and driving towards an increasingly competitive economy. NIA relies on academic and financial support mechanisms to drive and support innovation development.

NIA undertakes a broad-based and systematic approach in facilitating innovation development in Thailand, both in terms of making improvements and pioneering new initiatives. More precisely, NIA focuses on fostering strategic innovation and industry innovation, which enhances national productivity, encourages economic restructuring and social development as well as promoting national competitiveness. NIA also focuses on coordinating industrial clusters both at the policy and operational levels, promoting innovation culture and building up innovation systems, with a broader aim to transform Thailand into an innovation-driven economy.

Functions
NIA aims to become an “expert agency in promoting and supporting innovation for national competitiveness.” To achieve this vision, NIA functions as a central unit in coordinating, networking and partnering different organizations from various fields such as education, technology, finance or investment but mainly focuses on utilizing knowledge management to achieve innovation, particularly to induce "Innovation on Cluster Platform" which uses innovation as the principal tool in improving the quality of life and as a driving tool for competitive economics.

Currently, NIA is focusing on three strategic areas for supporting the innovation development namely; Bio-Business, Eco-Industry and Design & Solutions. Such undertaking will integrate innovation into the strategic industry with a short term goal to generate a change in the manufacturing structure that will affect the economy and society in a swift and efficient manner. The long term goal is to bring Thailand to a knowledge-based economy and society in the end. Currently, over twenty innovation clusters/networks are in place for various industry sectors.

Operational Platforms
In order to strengthen and build up the new and realistic approaches for tangible benefits to the economy and the society at large, NIA adopts three strategic platforms as follows:

1. Upgrading Innovation Capability: Two key development programmes are at the core of NIA’s focus to increase the country’s innovation capability:
     1.1  Strategic Innovation Programme
NIA initiated the strategic innovation development in two new wave industries, namely, the Bioplastics Industry and the Organic Agriculture Business. National Development Plans have already been approved by the Cabinet for both of these industries.
     1.2  Industry Innovation Programme
Simultaneously, NIA also concentrates on three core areas of business, namely Bio-Business which includes Functional Food Platform, Food Safety Total Solutions Platform and Medical Tourism Platform, Eco-Industry which includes Clean Industry Platform and Eco-Products Platform, and Design & Solutions which includes Agri-Solutions Platform, Logistics Platform and Biomedical Industry Platform.

2. Innovation Culture Promotion: Aside from enterprise-level support programmes, NIA works at the macro level to foster awareness and recognition of the importance of innovation to the national economy. NIA has placed a great emphasis on promoting innovation culture and creating an environment conductive to innovation and learning at all levels of the society. To encourage a spirit of learning and stimulate enthusiasm for innovation, NIA organizes over 50 seminars and conferences per year on various innovation-related topics, offers the training course “Innovation Management Course for Executives (IMEs)” and works with several universities to provide graduate programmes in innovation management. Furthermore, NIA recognizes and promotes achievements in innovation through initiatives such as the National Innovation Awards, Top Ten Innovative Business and Thailand Top Innovative Companies.

3. Building up Innovation Systems: In a fast-changing economic environment, national competitiveness is closely tied to the country’s innovative capacity. In light of this, NIA endeavors to create a network of innovative enterprises based on knowledge shared between the public and private sectors, leading to the development of a robust national innovation ecosystem. NIA focuses primarily on formulating a national innovation policy and enabling effective management of innovation in all economic sectors.   A series of initiatives and services aimed to enhance the capacity to innovate and to exploit innovation commercially is developed. These include “Intellectual Property Management Unit” and “Innovation Ambassador Programme.”

Organization Structure
1.    Innovation Strategy Department
2.    Innovation Culture Promotion Department
3.    Organization Management Department

Contact
Address:    73/1 Rama VI Road, Rajdhevee, Bangkok 10400
Tel:        +(66)2 644 6000
Fax:        +(66)2 644 8444
E-mail:         This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website:    http://www.nia.or.th

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