Government sees digital as wave of TV's future

Taiwan is aiming to develop cutting-edge digital content programs to accelerate the development and prevalence of digital television, officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

The ambitious plan, aimed at providing swift and inexpensive digital content to digital TV operations, Internet applications and wireless telecommunications, is expected to net business worth NT$10 trillion (US$289 billion) in 10 years and create job opportunities for 1 million to 2 million people, according to the officials.

At a workshop on the prospects for the development of the digital image and television technology industry in Taiwan, Huang Chao-yuan (黃昭淵), executive director of the Presidential Science and Technology Advisory Committee, said President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has on many occasions instructed related government agencies to help expedite the development of digital technology-related industry in Taiwan.

After one year of planning and research, the ministry has recently finalized the shape and sphere of a national digital content program development plan, Huang noted.

According to Shih Yen-hsiang (施顏祥), director of the ministry's Industrial Development Bureau (IDB), the plan is expected to be submitted to the Executive Yuan within two weeks for approval.

Shih said that as part of the plan's promotion, the government will help establish software industrial parks nationwide and integrate the software and hardware industries to build up platforms for digital TV production.