Nation's advantage in making digital content touted

Taiwan has unique advantages when it comes to Chinese digital content, Huang Kuo-chun (黃國俊), executive vice president of the semi-official Institute for Information Technology, said yesterday.

It is estimated that by 2006, the nation's digital content market will have a production value of NT$370 billion (US$11.2 billion), with 3,000 companies and 70,000 workers, he said at the opening of the two-day, 27th biennial ROC-USA conference.

He noted that Taiwan has considerable advantages in leading the Chinese digital content market, citing as an example that Taiwan has accumulated considerable capital, talented workers and technology in the information industry over the years, and has established an industry chain that has combined the IT upper- and lower-stream sectors.

In addition, Taiwanese culture is a fertile breeding ground for nurturing the digital content industry, Huang said.

With Taiwan's unique experience and geography, it has integrated Chinese culture, the ocean culture of the aboriginal people, the colonial culture of the Dutch, and the Western culture it has been exposed to over the long term, he said.

Moreover, compared with Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Shanghai, Taiwan has more democracy, a more open society and a more pluralistic culture, which are the main ingredients to develop into a society centered on digital content, he said.