Through attending various commercial activities hosted by the World Information Technology and Services Alliances (WITSA), Taiwan information software and hardware firms can more easily tap global business opportunities, according to Yvonne Chiu, chairperson of both WITSA and the Information Service Industry Association of the ROC (CISA).
In an interview conducted in Hanoi, Vietnam by Digitimes, Chiu said WITSA is an organization with global visions, and has a total of 83 member states, with all its activities highly supported by host countries.
Chiu called for Taiwan makers of information hardware products, particularly industrial PCs, to join her association first and then actively attend commercial activities organized by WITSA in various countries to directly explore business opportunities though cooperation with integrators of software and hardware systems.
At the ASOCIO Smart City Forum 2018 recently held in Hanoi, Chiu had the opportunity to discuss various smart city business opportunities with over 600 representatives from 10 member states, highlighting Taiwan's various smart city application solutions, especially those associated with mass rapid transit systems (MRT).
Chiu said that Taiwan's MRT systems, long renowned for their clean in-train space and punctual services, managed to provide 4K live TV broadcast of the 2017 Summer Universiade held in August in Taipei. This can serve as a good reference for various countries in hosting large-size sports events. In addition, the electronic payment and fund transfer systems via MRT EasyCard now under promotion by Taipei City Government, as well as how to address related regulatory and financial issues can also serve as paragon models for other countries.
Interest in working with Taiwan in ICT development
Chiu managed to arrange Colley Hwang, president of Digitimes, to give a talk at Vietnam's Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), and had dialogues with MIC's deputy minister and other officials.
The Vietnamese officials expressed strong interest in creating opportunities for cooperation with Taiwan in ICT development. Possible cooperation projects include organizing municipal-level smart city forums, cultivation of IC design talent, information exchanges between Taiwan and Vietnam, and inviting Taiwan experts to serve as advisors in the government sector.
Chiu also revealed that CISA will organize a delegation to attend a WITSA-hosted global directors meeting to be held in early October in Armenia, adding that she will recommend Taiwan experts to speak at the meeting and discuss business cooperation opportunities.
At the moment, the world's leading EDA (electronic design automation) specialist Synopsys has a workforce of some 1,000 engineers in Armenia. Chiu said that if Taiwan can introduce ICT engineers from Armenia, its shortage of ICT talent can be significantly eased.
As Synopsys has reportedly sent some talented Armenia engineers to Taiwan's National Chiao Tung University for advanced studies through an industry-academia cooperation mechanism, Chiu urged the government in Taiwan to use the channel to carry out smart city cooperation projects and tech talent exchanges.