On 19 February 2025, NXPO President Dr. Surachai Sathitkunarat participated in the 5th Policy Innovation Exchange (PIX5), themed “Policy Innovation Journey for Shaping Today and Tomorrow.” The event was co-organized by the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Thailand.
Dr. Surachai delivered a presentation titled “The Connectivity and Adaptation from Research to Policy Innovation and Implementation,” where he emphasized the significant transformation in policy-making, driven by emerging global challenges, increasing complexity of policy issues, and growing stakeholder expectations. As the agency responsible for higher education and science policies, NXPO focuses on selecting key issues to address, leading to the creation of the Virtual Policy Platform, designed to foster public engagement in the policy making process.
NXPO’s policy development is based on the National Innovation System framework, which promotes collaboration among academia, industry, and government. This framework also underpins the Virtual Policy Platform, which integrates the expertise of scholars and researchers from universities and public research institutes, aligns policy objectives with societal needs, and leverages government support to translate ideas into actionable policies. A critical component of this Participatory Policy Platform is the availability of comprehensive data and well-defined policy issues. Strong support systems for development, monitoring and evaluation is also important to create feedback mechanisms, allowing for the refinement and improvement of policies.
The policy-making process begins by identifying key issues using various tools such as foresight methodologies. Once the issue is defined, the process advances through in-depth policy research and policy formulation. Early stakeholder engagement is integrated from the outset to ensure effective policy implementation. Post-implementation, continuous monitoring and evaluation are essential for ongoing improvement. Dr. Surachai underscored NXPO’s commitment to foresight-driven policy development, highlighted by the establishment of the APEC Center for Technology Foresight (APEC CTF) in 1998. Over the years, APEC CTF has led numerous foresight initiatives and provided strategic consultancy. A notable example is the Circular Economy Transition Roadmap developed for APEC during the COVID-19 pandemic, which utilized scenario planning and global online brainstorming sessions with participants from diverse regions. NXPO has also actively contributed to global agendas on climate change, carbon neutrality, and achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
In closing, Dr. Surachai outlined four key elements of NXPO’s participatory Policy Platform: 1) Recognition of Complex Issues, 2) Stakeholder Engagement, 3) Strong Methodologies, and 4) Data-Driven Decision-Making. Supported by a continuous feedback system, the platform enables policy refinement and improvement. NXPO remains committed to promoting foresight as a vital tool for strategic planning and fostering forward-looking, data-driven policy-making.
