With the global digital economy booming, AI and cloud services have become key drivers of urban and industrial innovation. On November 19, 2024, AWS held a cloud industry summit in Kaohsiung themed "Innovation Generation, AI Empowerment: From Semiconductors to Local Economy, Igniting Kaohsiung's New Digital Economy." Kaohsiung City Mayor Chi-Mai Chen attended the event and, together with Robert Wang, Managing Director of Taiwan and Hong Kong, AWS, analyzed how AWS services can help Kaohsiung promote the development of its AI industry chain. Representatives from companies such as NXP Semiconductors and Hanshin Department Store also shared their experiences in adopting AWS technologies to accelerate innovative transformation, demonstrating Kaohsiung's comprehensive digital transformation achievements, from semiconductor manufacturing to the everyday economy.
AWS's five years of deep cultivation in Kaohsiung show results, driving a digital new economy across industries
Robert pointed out that AWS has been actively expanding in southern Taiwan, holding cloud forums in Kaohsiung for five consecutive years since 2020, and in 2022, announced the establishment of Taiwan's first city-level hybrid architecture AWS Outpost. AWS's deployment in southern Taiwan adopts a dual-engine strategy to deepen local connections. Through AGS's cross-border e-commerce guidance, it helps high-quality products from Kaohsiung enter the global market via Amazon's global e-commerce platform. Simultaneously, it utilizes AWS cloud services to assist local businesses in digital transformation. This comprehensive approach has shown results across various industries, from chip design and simulation in the semiconductor industry to assisting traditional industries like Jiu Zhen Nan and the Ruifeng Night Market in digital upgrading. AWS also plays a key role in scenarios such as optimizing the iPASS payment system and managing concert crowds. Notably, AWS has announced that it will establish a data center in Taiwan in 2025, which will further strengthen its service capabilities in Taiwan.
Robert particularly emphasized that the key reason AWS chose to cultivate Kaohsiung lies in the city government team's deep understanding and emphasis on technology application. Close interaction with AWS has been maintained since Chi-Mai Chen's time as a legislator, continuing the long-term cooperative relationship. AWS will cooperate with the city government's four visions of "Net Zero X Technology Kaohsiung, Livable Kaohsiung, Happy Kaohsiung, and Charming Kaohsiung," implementing a development model of "Landing in Kaohsiung, Demonstrating Across Taiwan, and Expanding Globally." Concrete actions already taken include establishing the Asia New Bay Area 5G AIoT Innovation Park Kaohsiung AWS Joint Innovation Center and introducing global resources to help local businesses expand into overseas markets. Currently, 90% of the world's top 50 AI companies are AWS customers, and 96% of AI unicorns also use AWS services. In the future, AWS will continue to promote the application of innovative technologies such as generative AI across various industries. AWS hopes to inject vitality into Kaohsiung's industrial upgrading and build a new technology hub in southern Taiwan through comprehensive cloud services and AI resources, along with the innovative spirit of "different industries, similar principles."
AWS assists Kaohsiung's advance towards AI 2.0, helping build the Asia New Bay Area innovation ecosystem
In his address, Chi-Mai Chen outlined the blueprint for cooperation between Kaohsiung City and AWS. He mentioned that this was the fifth consecutive year he had participated in the AWS cloud industry forum held in Kaohsiung. As a pioneer in smart city development, Kaohsiung has consistently achieved outstanding results in domestic and international authoritative media evaluations of sustainable cities and smart governance. In response to the AI 2.0 wave, the city government is actively forming strategic alliances with international giants like AWS, creating a complete industrial ecosystem in the Asia New Bay Area. Combining AWS cloud services, system integrators, and telecom operators, this has led to a record-high occupancy rate for startups. In terms of practical applications, concrete examples include concert traffic management in collaboration with AWS and Chunghwa Telecom. Utilizing an AI crowd detection system, the time required for crowd dispersal was significantly reduced from 2.5 hours to 1.5 hours. The system also provides real-time crowd flow information for commercial districts, helping businesses adjust their operating strategies. Furthermore, AWS, through the Asia New Bay Area 5G AIoT Innovation Park Kaohsiung AWS Joint Innovation Center, assists local businesses in digital transformation and provides guidance and technical support to startups.
Regarding future development, Chi-Mai Chen announced that the city government will plan and build a sovereign AI platform for the city, expanding its application scope to areas such as industrial development, transportation, healthcare, and social welfare. He emphasized that Kaohsiung will upgrade from the Asia New Bay Area project to Asia New Bay Area 2.0, leveraging the resources of international strategic partners to accelerate industrial upgrading, assist businesses in expanding overseas markets, and prepare for the AI 2.0 era, continuing to promote innovative governance in smart cities.
AWS's southern Taiwan strategy succeeds, connecting industrial ecosystems and expanding global markets
At this cloud industry summit, AWS also partnered with the Kaohsiung City Government to host the "Fearless Innovation, Cloud Empowerment, Port City Startup Arena - 2024 AWS International Innovation Competition." Through a model of "businesses posing challenges, startups providing solutions," the competition connected industry and research institutions such as Hanshin Department Store, the Metal Industries Research & Development Centre, and Chunghwa Telecom, encouraging startups to develop innovative application services. In the competition, teams demonstrated outstanding results in AI innovation applications. Ret[AI]ling Data utilized generative AI technology to create a smart shopping assistant, providing retail recommendation services to consumers and winning first prize in the smart retail category. In the smart healthcare field, Pumpkin VR won an award for developing a solution that analyzes patient data and provides recommendations for medical staff. Linker Vision employed generative AI technology to create a practical and sustainable traffic data analysis solution, standing out in the smart city traffic management category.
AWS has achieved diverse and innovative application results across various industries in southern Taiwan. NXP Semiconductors utilizes AWS's IoT and ML technologies to provide customers in fields such as smart factories, smart homes, and smart cars with security solutions ranging from device authentication to full lifecycle management. Hanshin Department Store has fully implemented AWS cloud tools since 2019, completing the cloud migration of core systems such as POS, SAP, and CRM in 2023, thereby reducing operating costs by 25% and increasing operational speed by 1.5 times. Other success stories include Tien Kang Machinery achieving cloud-based ERP systems through AWS, saving NT$120,000 in annual electricity costs and reducing carbon emissions by 30%; VAR Live utilizing AWS to develop VR games, achieving global player data synchronization; KDAN applying AWS to develop smart document management and electronic signature solutions; and Baytech Environment and Engineering utilizing AWS technology to create environmental monitoring solutions, using networked devices to collect environmental data and supporting Kuroshio power generation assessment and climate prediction through high-performance computing.
AWS's deep cultivation in Kaohsiung has yielded fruitful results, successfully connecting the local industrial ecosystem from the semiconductor industry to the everyday economy. In the future, AWS will continue to cooperate with Kaohsiung City's four smart city visions, implementing the development model of "landing in Kaohsiung, demonstrating across Taiwan, and expanding globally." Through the Joint Innovation Center established in the Asia New Bay Area and the introduction of global resources, AWS hopes to assist more local businesses in digital transformation and expand into overseas markets. By leveraging comprehensive cloud services and AI resources, AWS aims to realize the vision of "talented youth staying in Kaohsiung, soaring to the global stage from Kaohsiung," building Kaohsiung into a new technology hub in southern Taiwan.
