Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) yesterday said it aims to double its data and artificial intelligence (AI)-related workforce over the next three years to cater to customers’ needs.
The initiative is part of efforts by the nation’s third-largest telecom to transform itself into a provider of new value-added services, such as information and communication technology and the Internet of Things.
Far EasTone last month began a major organizational restructuring effort, the largest in its history, to change into a “customer-centric” organization.
“Far EasTone has been working to foster AI talent. This year it is looking to step up recruitment of AI experts, including data scientists,” company president Yvonne Li (李彬) told reporters on the sidelines of a media briefing.
“Data plays a vital role in our strategy this year. We hope data-related employees will account for 30 percent of our new businesses over the next three years, compared with the current 15 percent,” Li said.
A total of 500 employees have been allocated to offering new businesses, she said.
Far EasTone aims to recruit experts with domain knowledge and data scientists to analyze data and to work out optimal models to help local industries move toward “smart” manufacturing, Li said.
Li’s remarks came after Far EasTone yesterday announced that it has partnered with Microsoft Corp to help apply AI technology to local industries seeking digital transformation.
Microsoft is to provide the AI technology and the brainpower for the project, while Far EasTone might play a bridging role and help to resolve problems faced by different domains by providing system integration solutions and sharing its experiences in offering Internet of Things and big data services.
Far EasTone, a telecom arm of Far Eastern Group (遠東集團), is to target the manufacturing, healthcare and cybersecurity sectors by leveraging the group’s strength, Far EasTone vice president Philip Tseng (曾詩淵) said.
The group owns numerous subsidiaries, including fabric maker Far Eastern New Century Corp (遠東新) and Far Eastern Memorial Hospital (亞東醫院).
The telecom yesterday reported that net income last month rose 3.1 percent year-on-year to NT$531 million (US$17.94 million).
That raised its net profit for the whole of last year to NT$10.86 billion, or earnings per share of NT$3.33, surpassing its forecast.
However, revenue fell 2.41 percent to NT$92.07 billion for last year, compared with NT$94.34 billion in 2016.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last