Thailand could be about to become the spiritual hub of Web 2.0 as it prepares to inject concepts such as Sufficiency and Happiness into its future ICT policy. And while it may appear at first glance to be a feelgood mission rather than good business, the plans have attracted some high-level backers and thinkers the likes of Nokia, Intel IBM and Google as well as many of the country's top universities, government agencies and bureaucrats and even the ITU.

The initiative is still in the discussion stage at the moment and follows a seminar on Happiness and Public Policy that was held in Bangkok last month organized by Thailand's Public Policy Development Office and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

Craig Warren Smith, one of the speakers at the event and a senior advisor to the University of Washington Human Interface Technology Laboratory, said Web 2.0 technologies could be developed that foster happiness, have an ethical component or draw insights from Buddhist teachings. He wrote that while many corporations have been nurturing technologies that aim to foster the well-being of users, their innovations have remained mostly hidden in research labs, far from Asia. "Till now these corporations have lacked a nation to serve as their beta test site," he suggested.

"If the project succeeds, it could spread rapidly. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which helps 191 nations set telecommunications policy, is listening in," Smith wrote in the Bangkok Post article.

He provided the example of Intel researcher John Sherry, whose healthcare research group in Portland, Oregon is developing biofeedback technologies that draw insight from Buddhist meditation. "These technologies can help patients monitor their behavior and reduce stress. Thailand could offer a great environment to help companies such as Intel adapt these technologies to the realities of emerging markets," Sherry was quoted as saying in the article.