This year’s Computex exhibition in Taipei concluded its second to last day yesterday with calls for more Taiwanese-Japanese cooperation from Japanese participants at two technical forums presented by Japanese IT consortiums, which were attended by many Taiwanese company representatives who sought business collaborations.
Elsewhere, players were battling it out in the final rounds of computer game and computer overclocking competitions.
International and Taiwanese investors, IT managers and technicians in the past week converged on Computex, which is to wrap up this evening at the Taipei World Trade Center (TWTC) exhibition hall, and the Nangang Exhibition Center.
Photo courtesy of ATEN International Co.
The venues are open to the general public today: a NT$200 ticket grants entry to all areas and events, including an exhibit for start-ups at TWTC Hall 3.
In the two last technical forums yesterday, the focus was on Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and electronics telecommunication development in Japan.
As they painted a roadmap of the future and shared trend forecasts, Japanese company representatives called for more business partnerships and for forging an alliance with Taiwan’s IT industry.
Managers and engineers from Japanese tech giants NEC and Hitachi presented their research and work development work on Internet of Things and Embedded Technology, as well as new advances in artificial intelligence and robot operating systems, followed by presentations by officials from the Japan Embedded Systems Technology Association (JASA) and JTB Group’s communication design unit.
Hiroshi Kotada from JASA said many Japanese technology companies are pursuing the next stages of IoT, fog computing and edge computing, as well as the development of “Industry 4.0”, which will open up huge business opportunities around the world.
“There will be a large demand for IT technicians, designers and project managers for these new IoT and computing technologies,” Kotada said. “Japan’s big business consortiums and small-to-medium enterprises all realize that there will be talent shortages in these sectors in the coming years,” Kotada said.
Japan has good basic fundamentals and has laid down a framework for the coming industry trends, he said, adding that those would be driven by IoT, robotics, artificial intelligence and other new IT and computing technologies that would completely change people’s lifestyles and the ways they work.
“Robotics and artificial intelligence will bring on new modes of production and change people’s jobs and the traditional workplace,” he said.
“IoT and its related computing technologies will bring on Industry 4.0 … We are witnessing [a] new industrial revolution in our lifetime,” Kotada said.
“Right now, we already have lots of Taiwanese companies working in partnership with counterparts in Japan on these new technology trends. For these developments, enterprises in Taiwan and Japan can collaborate on programs and joint ventures to cultivate the big demand for human talent, for new research directions, and [to] forge partnership for supply chain production,” he said.
“To keep on top of these new trends and changes in IoT technology, Taiwan and Japan must work together to complement each other’s industrial needs and capacity, and therefore to become the leading forces and continue to stay competitive [to take advantage of] new business opportunities around the world in the coming years,” he added.
Meanwhile, visitors looking for relaxation were treated to international teams clashing in the final rounds of the Zotac Cup videogames competition, playing Defense of the Ancients 2, a popular multiplayer online battle video game, and cheered on contestants at the Computer Overclocking World Cup grand final, where the winner took home US$10,000 in prize money.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that