Taiwan has created a good foundation for intelligent technology development and has ambitions to be a world leader in artificial intelligence. The nation is looking to develop a leading AI on-device solutions and sound ecosystem that creates a niche market and become an important partner in the value chain of a global intelligent system. It is eager to foster hardware and software collaboration to promote AI technology among industries with test fields, regulations, and data-sharing environment.
Some of its recent achievements have been in the fields of education, traffic management and drone development. Most recently, President Tsai Ing-wen says Chiayi County can become an international leader in drone technology development. The comments came during Tsai’s visit to a new aerospace park in the southwestern region of Taiwan. The park is the result of the collaboration between the county government and the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology.
Tsai praised the institute in a speech, saying that it has played a pivotal role in driving forward technological development in Taiwan’s defense industry. Taiwan is now fully capable of producing defense technology from the design stage through to manufacture. The institute has also created job opportunities and fostered a new generation of talented aerospace engineers.
The new aerospace park will host a drone system training centre as well as a division for researching the use of artificial intelligence in drone technology. President Tsai says she hopes that support from the local and national governments can allow Chiayi County to play a pivotal role in Taiwan’s technological development.
The northern Taiwanese city of Keelung has received international recognition for using AI technology to manage pedestrian movement at the Miaokou Night Market amid the coronavirus pandemic.
As part of its epidemic prevention measures, Keelung installed the country’s first A.I. LiDAR Flow Management System at all 18 of the night market’s exits last year. The system, which was developed by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), provides advanced detection and tracking of pedestrian flow in crowded areas.
The port city was given the 2020 Global ICT Excellence Awards by the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) for finding tech solutions to overcome challenges imposed by the ongoing pandemic. Former WITSA Chairwoman Yvonne Chiu presented the physical trophy to Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang.
Lin told the media that the city government was able to enhance its epidemic prevention capabilities through collaborations with ITRI and an American computing company. He said the AI LiDAR Flow Management System allows officials to estimate real-time crowd numbers in the night market and ensure social distancing measures.
Meanwhile, Chiu praised Keelung for its fast development in recent years. She described the Global ICT Excellence Awards as the “Oscars in the information and technology world” and said the city has left a lasting impression on the global community, reported Liberty Times.
A joint team from the National University of Tainan (NUTN) and Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed an integrated artificial intelligence system to help students with online learning. The group will present the results of its research at the International Conference on Fuzzy Systems (FUZZ-IEEE) in Luxembourg in July.
The team’s method has already been implemented in Tainan, Taichung, Hsinchu, and Taipei, but NUTN is hoping its appearance at the conference would expand usage of the system to Europe, America, and Asia, the college said in a statement. The project will showcase the advances of Taiwan’s AI in the field of education while showing the future of online learning.
Taiwan has several key initiatives to drive its AI sector, one of which is its AI International Innovation Hub. Though the hub, it plans to Foster 100 AI-related Start-ups, Expand cultivation of new AI startups and Integrate guiding mechanisms to support AI-related start-ups
Another prong is looking to promote AI-related research service companies (RSCs) by integrating national development fund and private venture capital companies to support AI-related start-ups. It will also bridge international capital markets and the industrial value chain.
The goals would be to introduce international venture capital and advisory organisations to make the connection between AI-related start-ups and the international capital markets. Part of its strategy rests on developing international AI innovation clusters that would encourage international and local collaboration. Ideally, international companies would be inspired to set up AI R&D centres in Taiwan and bridge the local AI industries.