President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday touted Taiwanese talent, technology and supporting policies to keep the nation competitive in the coming artificial intelligence and Internet of things (IoT) era.
Speaking at the opening of the 2018 Smart City Summit and Expo in Taipei, Tsai cited the proliferation of Wi-Fi services, including on all Taiwan High Speed Rail cabins, as an example of the small changes that demonstrate Taiwan’s efforts in pushing “smart” cities.
“Taiwan plays an indispensable role in the global supply chain of the information and communication technology [ICT] industry,” she said. “In addition to having a solid technical foundation, domestic companies have proactively invested in developing AIoT [artificial intelligence of things], while the government pushes the Asia Silicon Valley Development Agency [ASVDA] project and other programs to create test fields.”
In keeping up with the development of smart cities, Taiwan last year passed the Financial Technology Innovation and Experiment Act (金融科技發展與創新實驗條例) and financial technology firms can start applying to use the regulatory sandbox in May, she said, adding that regulations for experimenting with uncrewed vehicles are being drafted.
“Taiwan has been a leader in the ICT era, and we will definitely keep up with the AIoT era,” Tsai said.
More than 120 city government heads leading about 300 delegations from 33 nations and territories are expected to take part in the exhibition, and exchange ideas about smart city development, the Taipei Department of Information Technology said.
The exhibition is forecast to attract more than 30,000 experts in related fields over the four-day period, the department said.
The Taipei City Government has set up 42 booths this year, based on the theme “Smart Taipei, International Connecting,” to exhibit Taipei’s smart city efforts in seven aspects — transportation, public housing, healthcare, education, innovation, ecological community and security, Taipei Deputy Mayor Charles Lin (林欽榮) said.
Besides Taipei, eight local governments have also set up their own booths at the expo, while the ASVDA project has booths to showcase seven other cities and counties, Lin said.
With the support of major domestic technology firms, Taipei has teamed up with the five other special municipalities and several major cities around the world to form the Global Organization of Smart Cities, Department of Information Technology Director Lee Wei-bin (李維斌) said.
The exposition, organized by the Taipei City Government, the Taipei Computer Association and Taiwan Smart City Solutions Alliance, is being held at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
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