To bring the government's plan of turning Taiwan into a "digitalized state" closer to fruition, the Cabinet yesterday launched a cyber-academy to get civil servants to pick up the practice of life-long learning.
"As constructing an e-government underpins the government's six-year national-development program, we hope that the inauguration of the e-learning academy will help materialize the building of a digitalized Taiwan," said Lin Chia-cheng (林嘉誠), chairman of the Cabinet's Research, Development and Evaluation Commission (研考會).
Lin made the remark at a one-day symposium held at the Taipei World Trade Center yesterday.
The Cabinet introduced the NT$2.6 trillion six-year national-development program on Wednesday, with the central government planning to invest about NT$30 billion to turn Taiwan into a "digitalized state."
Major tasks include constructing an e-government, developing e-commerce, building an e-society, constructing an e-transportation network and increasing the household use of broadband Internet services to 6 million homes.
The E-learning Civil Servant Academy (http://elearning.nat.gov.tw) will offer 10 different courses to the nation's 600,000 civil servants.
Addressing the 70 civil servants attending the symposium, Lin said that the inauguration of the online academy shows the government's determination to build an e-government.
"To respond to a fast-changing world, it's important to provide civil servants -- whoever they are and wherever they work -- with a new way of learning, so they'll remain abreast of the most updated information," Lin said.
In addition to inaugurating the online academy, the commission yesterday set up a booth at the World Trade Center -- the venue of the five-day computer and computer software exhibition -- to promote the government's efforts.
Chan Tak-wai (
"Future schools will provide an interest-oriented and online educational environment and offer Internet course contests to attract participants," he said.
Lee Kuan-ching (李冠卿), a physics professor at National Central University and head of the online academy project, said that he is happy to see the project come into being after nine months of work.
"It's a challenge to make long-distance learning as interactive and responsive as face-to-face teaching," Lee said.
To encourage people to learn online, Lee Huang-kuei (
Huang Hsu-hung (
According to Huang, 67 of China's 200 universities, or about 30 percent, acknowledge the credentials of cyber-programs. About 44 percent of the 3,000 universities in the US offer cyber-programs and acknowledge their credentials.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official