Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang (唐鳳) yesterday highlighted digital resilience and multilateral cooperation at London Tech Week.
Tang, who led a Taiwanese delegation to the UK Department of Trade, attended the Global Leaders Innovation Summit at the invitation of British Trade Commissioner for Asia-Pacific Natalie Black, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said.
Under Tang’s direction, the ministry has launched an initiative to bolster Taiwan’s digital resilience to address risks linked to climate change and geopolitics.
Photo: CNA
The initiative involves improving the nation’s encryption capabilities and making better use of cloud-based technology, Tang said, adding that achieving cloud-native and zero-trust architecture is essential to the ministry’s cybersecurity vision.
The ministry would hasten the creation of a reciprocal digital stamp certification scheme with the UK to facilitate bilateral exchanges, she said.
It also plans to expand a gold card program to cover foreign professionals in the information and digital technology industry to increase international work opportunities in Taiwan, Tang said.
Foreign nationals with eight years of experience in the industry would be eligible for temporary work visas ranging from one to three years, she said.
The government is assisting the nation’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to upgrade their technology via the TCloud program, which has provided rented cloud services to 729 businesses across sectors, Tang said.
Social innovation companies, including cooperatives and long-term care service providers, became eligible for the program in March, she said.
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Separately, National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) told the Central News Agency that Taiwan is developing its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) system that could collate data in response to user queries.
The algorithm, known as “Trustworthy AI Dialog Engine” (TAIDE), is to feature “Taiwanese characteristics” and operate in traditional Chinese, he said, adding that it would mainly focus on providing applications tailored to the demands of government users, unlike ChatGPT.
The council is collaborating with the public and private sectors to develop the first-generation model, he said, adding that the private partners include MediaTek Inc, Asustek Computer Inc and Taiwan Web Service Corp.
A bill to regulate practices in the AI sector is being created and is expected to be submitted to the Legislative Yuan during the next legislative session beginning in September, he said.
Wu, who was part of Tang’s delegation, said that Taiwan wishes to collaborate with the UK on developing AI, Internet security, the space industry and precision medicine.
The nation is interested in joining the first-ever global summit on AI risks to be hosted in the UK this fall, as the event would provide an opportunity for Taiwan and the UK to expand bilateral collaboration in technology, he said.
The British government has said the summit would “bring together key countries, leading tech companies and researchers to agree safety measures to evaluate and monitor the most significant risks from AI.”
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