Several innovative ideas on the application of information and communications technology were on display in Taipei yesterday, in an effort to promote the nation’s profile in the field of telematics.
Hosted by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院), the exhibition was held alongside a telematics forum and the Taiwan regional award ceremony under the European Satellite Navigation Competition.
Among the innovative ideas on display was a taxi calling and dispatching application by Frank Tsai, director of the Taipei-based Emerging Telematics Technologies Center and winner of the Taiwan Regional Prize.
Taxi drivers in Taipei are without a passenger 75 percent of the time, while people need to wait on average almost six minutes for a taxi after calling a dispatch center, Tsai said.
With the new system, based on the Global Navigation Satellite System and dedicated short-range communication networks, passengers can send a request and only nearby taxis can pick up the call.
The system eliminates costly radio networks, labor-intensive call centers and expensive data centers, Tsai said.
The competition also included for the first time a prototype prize: Instead of just coming up with innovative ideas, participants have to build a prototype.
After taking part in the competition for four years, Taiwan promoted the idea of holding a prototype award, which was approved by the competition’s committee this year.
“We need to let more people know that Taiwan is good at telematics,” said Chiang Tsun-chieh, a division director at ITRI.
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