On 17 December 2025, NXPO, in collaboration with Thaksin University, organized a forum titled “From Local Research to National Impact: Driving Social Innovation through Universities and Area-Based Index,” alongside the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the development and application of social innovation index by Thai higher education institutions. The event aimed to co-design new mechanisms for area-based development by leveraging research data, community knowledge, and spatial index as key tools to deliver more precise and effective solutions that improve quality of life, strengthen the grassroots economy, and reduce inequality.

Associate Professor Dr. Nathapong Chitniratna, President of Thaksin University, emphasized that amid rising societal expectations, universities must move beyond their traditional role as knowledge producers to become key drivers of national development through science, research, and innovation. In particular, social innovation serves as a vital bridge between academic knowledge and real-world local contexts. The development of the Thailand Social Innovation Index enables universities to clearly demonstrate, measure, and scale social impacts, while opening a new space for equitable collaboration among diverse stakeholders. This collective effort delivers shared value and social progress, positioning universities as reliable pillars of society.

Dr. Suchat Udomsopagit, Assistant to the President of NXPO, noted that rapid economic, social, and technological changes—together with persistent inequality and structural challenges—require new thinking and development mechanisms that genuinely respond to community needs through multi-sectoral collaboration. This partnership represents a significant step in strengthening the role of Thai higher education institutions as drivers of social innovation and sustainable area-based development, while laying the foundation for new standards of social innovation aligned with Thailand’s societal context.

Dr. Chaiyatorn Limapornvanich, Director of Innovation Strategy at the National Innovation Agency (NIA), delivered a presentation on innovation index, highlighting that innovation extends beyond technology to encompass the application of knowledge to improve quality of life, society, and the environment, while reducing inequality. Social innovation, therefore, is a key mechanism for addressing real community challenges and advancing the SDGs under the People–Planet–Profit framework. He stressed that effective development requires a systems approach, cross-sectoral collaboration, and tools for measuring social impact.

Dr. Chaiyatorn further underscored that cities are hubs of transformation. Development must be rooted in local identity, integrate innovation, and foster quintuple helix collaboration to enhance quality of life and generate new economic opportunities without leaving communities behind. He emphasized that an innovation index is not a ranking tool, but a means to shift development thinking—from numerical indicators to quality of life, and from centralized approaches to area-based development.

Associate Professor Dr. Samak Kaewsuksaeng, Vice President for Research and Innovation at Thaksin University, explained that the university has repositioned itself as a “social innovation engine” by building a comprehensive research and innovation ecosystem. This includes research infrastructure, technology transfer, intellectual property management, the establishment of a holding company, and the development of innovation-driven enterprises, startups, and spin-offs. The university also actively connects research with end users, markets, and communities through a Social Community Lab. Thaksin University’s social innovation framework comprises five key dimensions: 1) TSU Governance and Policy Environment 2) TSU Funding and Support Mechanisms 3) TSU Academic and Community Engagement 4) TSU Student and Faculty Mindset, and 5) TSU Institutional Capacity.

Associate Professor Dr. Uthen Kamnan, Deputy Director of the Program Management Unit on Area-Based Development (PMU-A), highlighted that PMU-A advances solutions to poverty and spatial inequality under the concept of Data for Social Innovation. By integrating community data, research, and index through an area-based collaborative mechanism, PMU-A has developed key data systems such as TPMAP, PPPConnect, and Decision Support Systems (DSS). These systems link data from more than 1.6 million low-income households across five dimensions of poverty and have led to the development of 299 practical poverty alleviation models implemented in 20 provinces, generating tangible area-based outcomes.

Dr. Suchat further noted that Thailand has strong potential to elevate its social innovation ecosystem to the global level. However, a major challenge lies in the lack of linkage between national policies, area-based implementation, and the effective use of data in decision-making. To address this gap, NXPO is promoting the development of a Social Innovation Index as a strategic tool to connect knowledge, research, and data with policy formulation and targeted resource allocation.

He emphasized that social innovation development in Thailand must rest on three core pillars: 1) National policy, which sets the overarching vision, shared goals, and strategic framework; 2) Area-based implementation, where innovation emerges from real community challenges through participation, needs assessment, and context-specific solutions; and 3) Data and indicators, which underpin decision-making, impact assessment, learning, and systematic knowledge capture.

“If these three pillars are not effectively integrated, national strategies will fail to respond to local needs, innovations will not be scalable, and data will not be fully utilized—resulting in resources being expended without long-term transformative impact,” Dr. Suchart cautioned.

Dr. Suchat concluded that the future of social innovation in Thailand must move toward an integrated ecosystem that connects national, area-based, and operational levels through multi-sectoral collaboration, with integrated data and index as the foundation for decision-making. This approach will enable system-wide learning, reduce duplication, unlock systemic value, and ultimately support sustainable national development that reduces inequality and enhances the quality of life for all.

The forum underscored that social innovation requires strong multi-sectoral collaboration, particularly from universities with deep local engagement. By acting as catalysts for change through knowledge transfer, area-based research, and data-driven policy support, universities play a critical role in advancing inclusive development. In this context, the development of a social innovation index tailored to the Thai context—to measure impact, track progress, and systematically scale outcomes—represents a vital mechanism for long-term inequality reduction and quality-of-life improvement.