The annual Computex Taipei will feature a new forum this year — InnoVEX — to highlight technology start-ups, organizers said yesterday.
Organizers want to shift the show’s focus from traditional computers to innovative technologies, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) executive vice president Walter Yeh (葉明水) said.
“Start-up companies are having greater influence on technology industry, as half of the Internet of Things applications are created by start-ups,” Yeh told a news conference in Taipei, citing statistics from by market researcher Gartner Inc.
Photo: Luo Chien-yi, Taipei Times
“We aim to make Taiwan a new start-up center in the world and to bring new applications to Taiwan by creating InnoVEX,” Yeh said.
The InnoVEX forum will be part of the TAITRA’s broader plan to help visitors understand the start-up ecosystem, the latest trends in Silicon Valley and the progress in the high-tech world such as virtual reality, virtual assistant, robotics and self-driving technologies.
Representatives from the world’s major venture capital firms and start-up companies, including Acorn Pacific Ventures, Click Ventures, Hardware Club and NYC Media Lab, have been invited to share their views at the forum.
About 170 start-ups from Taiwan and abroad are to participate in Computex for the first time, demonstrating their latest products and services, organizers said. Exhibitors include Garage+ established by Epoch Foundation (新時代基金會) and Hardware Treck, supported by investment venture TMI Holding Corp (台灣創意工場).
Hardware Treck chief executive officer Lucas Wang (王仁中) said his company is focused on new businesses for local electronics manufacturing service providers, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.
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