The Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) of Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) actively encourages cooperation between Taiwan and the United States in the development of the 5G sector under the Technology Trade and Investment Collaboration Framework (TTIC). Recently, a delegation from the American 5G industry was invited to travel to Taiwan under the direction of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
Top officials from the Open RAN Policy Coalition (ORPC), a telecom operator, a software company, a testing facility, and a wireless equipment supplier made up the delegation. The group interacted with more than 40 businesses involved in Taiwan’s 5G supply chain during their stay.
IDB promoted cooperation between the U.S. and Taiwan to explore new business opportunities inside the next-generation network environment by facilitating one-on-one business matching sessions, company visits, and networking events.
The most notable member of this delegation was ORPC. Its founding members include important businesses from across the 5G industry supply chain. The organisation was founded in 2020 with backing from the U.S. government to push for an open networking architecture for 5G and to promote a safe and diversified 5G supply chain.
The first-ever visit by ORPC to Taiwan provided a fantastic chance to strengthen cooperation between Taiwan’s telecommunications sector and ORPC members to further promote global linkages.
In-depth panel talks on 5G open networking, including the improvement of supplier diversity in open networking and the acceleration of global open networking deployment, were held by the U.S. 5G delegation in collaboration with Taiwan’s 5G businesses.
Additionally, the U.S.-Taiwanian cooperation had fruitful results. For instance, a solution provider for 5G private networks and an American telecom software business inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to proclaim a combined effort in research and development utilising AI to increase wireless signal performance, optimise spectrum utilisation, and improve 5G distributed unit (DU).
Further, given the recent rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), the Ministry of Digital Affairs (moda) announced that it has become an official partner of an international non-governmental organisation to ensure the alignment of AI applications with the interests of the public and to create the necessary application services for society.
As a member of the “Alignment Assemblies” project, the moda’s global and public goals are to aid Taiwan in creating public consensus about the needs and risks of AI and to collectively address the “Alignment Problem” of AI.
Beginning in July of this year (2023), the moda intends to steer the direction of AI development through Ideathons, with Taiwan serving as a demonstration field and a model of citizen engagement and deliberation.
According to moda, the international non-governmental organisation promotes technology that includes social growth, industrial advancement, and public trust. It thinks that the development of AI should prioritise ethics and the public good.
This project aims to develop global consensus among people all over the world and assure the alignment of AI with human values. The moda’s participation in this project aims to promote digital democracy and worldwide partnerships while cultivating a diverse and inclusive digital culture for Taiwan’s AI growth.
The moda indicated that it will launch the “Democratising AI Futures” debate through Ideathons in July of this year and encourage public engagement. Also, it will hold deliberative workshops in August to examine how to respond to the emergence of generative AI.
