The Taiwan Telematics Industry Alliance (TTIA, 台灣車載資通訊產業聯盟) is joining forces with the government to sell a locally initiated intelligent bus standard and related solutions to China starting next month, eyeing the massive market across the Taiwan Strait to generate the next possible cash cow for Taiwanese companies.
The TTIA and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday showcased what they claimed was the world’s first intelligent bus standard.
They said that exponential business opportunities would be created if bus companies across the Taiwan Strait adopted the solutions.
The solutions offer a number of intelligent features: alerts to warn drivers if they fall asleep or warn passengers if they miss their designated stop, real-time bus stop information on bus screens that also synchronize with passengers’ phones, as well as information about things to do at various bus stops.
“In the past, IT companies were working individually to sell and develop their respective intelligent solutions for vehicles,” Advantech Co (研華) chief technology officer Jeff Chen (陳贊鴻) told reporters.
“Now we have a common platform to link them all up and help us move into overseas markets,” he said.
Advantech is a member of the TTIA, an alliance representing about 100 high-tech companies including Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) in developing telematics, or intelligent transportation systems (ITS), used in vehicles.
Earlier this month, the TTIA joined the “Vehicle Infrastructure Transportation Affiliates Laboratory” (VITAL), a global organization led by the University of California, Berkeley, to dedicate resources into the research and development of ITS.
The TTIA created a working group, which includes about 10 members, to work on the ITS for buses, Chen said.
Statistics provided by the MOEA showed that 5.3 million buses are expected to be in use globally in 2013, of which between 6 percent and 8 percent will be using ITS.
In the Chinese market alone, as much as 8 percent of the 2.3 million buses believed to be operating at present are also forecast to turn their vehicles “smart” in 2013, which would present tremendous opportunity for Taiwanese companies if their standard was adopted by Chinese authorities.
Taiwanese will be able to experience smart buses at the Taipei Flora Expo in November.
MOEA officials said 20 such vehicles ferrying visitors from different sites at the expo will be used.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
RSS