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Space technology startup mu Space Corp is on track to developing its first Internet of Things (IoT) product that will be powered by 5G network. mu Space’s chief executive revealed at Thailand Digital Big Bang that the startup is now working on finalizing the product’s design and functionality.

“Awareness of IoT is growing in Thailand, but adoption is still at the early stage. Despite of this, we’re joining the IoT bandwagon because we’re optimistic that companies and industries will realize the business value of IoT when 5G network becomes available to us in the future,” said mu Space CEO and founder James Yenbamroong.

According to James, mu Space is planning to develop an IoT product like smart apparel to collect historical health data to be used in medical diagnosis of the user.

He further informed that mu Space plans to carry out future product tests at IoT Institute inside of Digital Park Thailand, a technology hub which will be built on a 960,000sqm land in Sriracha in the eastern province of Chonburi.

The IoT Institute, scheduled to be completed in 2020, will provide companies and startups a space to research, develop and test out IoT solutions for agriculture, manufacturing, e-health and e-commerce. The Thai government hopes that the institute will promote the tech startup ecosystem in Thailand to support the country’s transformation into a digital economy and its vision to become an innovation hub in Southeast Asia.

“By working at IoT Institute, we’re supporting the government in its digital transformation efforts. We believe that the IoT product we develop in the future will help improve the quality of life,” said James.

According to a Frost & Sullivan research, Thailand’s IoT spending in 2014 was amounted to US$ 58 million (THB 2 billion), and is forecasted to increase to US$ 973 million (THB 32 billion) by 2020.

“In the future, the proliferation of IoT in Thailand is expected to be among the highest in Southeast Asia due to lower initial IoT spending in the past. As IoT technology becomes more common, it’s expected that there will be a shift towards decentralized computing, and we will see more automation and lesser human-computer intervention,” said James.

However, the IoT market in Thailand is not without its challenges.

“Privacy is a major challenge to the adoption of IoT. With smart and connected devices embedded in business processes and tied to critical functions, we must ensure that the IoT systems we develop are securely encrypted,” said James.

Nonetheless, adoption of IoT is forecasted to grow in Thailand, with the majority of this spending taking place in the manufacturing and logistics sectors.

“It definitely will develop on multiple fronts. Smart cities, industrial automation, and increasing number of 5G-enabled mobile devices in the future will be key factors to the growing demand for IoT,” James concluded.

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