Information and communications technology (ICT) can help a country increase its international competitiveness and spur an economic recovery, as has been the case in Taiwan, local officials told foreign delegates at a working group meeting yesterday.
Taiwan ranks 11th in the networked readiness index in the Global Information Technology Report on 134 economies recently released by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
“[This] highlights ICT as a determinant in increasing international competitiveness,” Minister Without Portfolio Chang Chin-fu (張進福) said during the opening ceremony of a working group meeting of the APEC forum.
The 41st semi-annual meeting, taking place in Taiwan for the third time, is to discuss issues such as cyber security, the protection of minors online, radio spectrum management and international roaming.
The government has launched two major projects in recent years to boost the development of the ICT industry amid a global trend toward a knowledge-based economy.
As a result, the penetration rate of mobile telecoms users has reached 116 percent and more than 18 million users now have access to the Internet through wireless connections.
Chang told 300 delegates from 18 member economies of 21-member APEC that the government’s efforts to develop the ICT industry had accelerated Taiwan’s economic recovery.
He did not elaborate.
Skewed access to the Internet between urban and rural areas is another problem the government is tackling, Chang said.
“We have spared no effort to promote universal broadband services and have established 168 digital opportunity centers in rural areas, with personal computers, Internet access and training classes,” he said.
He also described WiMAX wireless technology as “a vital solution to extending the wireless city experience” to everywhere in the country.
A number of government agencies will also share their experiences of using ICT technologies at the meeting, which will run until tomorrow.
Also speaking at the ceremony, Bonnie Peng (彭芸), head of the National Communications Commission, the media and telecoms regulator, said that many APEC members place great emphasis on ICT technologies, which are a major factor in helping economies to recover and helping industries to grow, but she also called for awareness of the need to protect the younger generation of online users during the process.
“As we achieve our aims of providing broadband to all, the number of minors online continues to increase at a rapid pace,” she said.
“We cannot afford to underestimate the potential for harm to our young people and the subsequent damage to society,” she said, referring to the prevalence of sexual predators who use the Internet to groom children for abuse.
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