Quanta Computer founder Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday received the Ministry of Science and Technology’s First Class Science and Technology Profession Medal for his work in developing artificial intelligence (AI).
Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee (陳良基) said Lam was its first awardee after creating the system of gold, silver and bronze medals in July last year to honor people who have made outstanding contributions to science and technology.
Lam was chosen as he is a “missionary” for AI technology, the development of which is one of the ministry’s key policies, Chen said at the award ceremony at the ministry in Taipei.
Although some academics have criticized Chen for putting excessive emphasis on AI development over other branches of science, Chen said that developing AI could help sharpen core abilities across disciplines.
Academia Sinica academician and data scientist Kung Hsiang-Tsung (孔祥重) and Synopsys president Chan Chi-foon (陳志寬) are the other two recipients of a gold medal, the ministry said, adding that it is to hold their award ceremonies at a later date.
Quanta, along with Taiwan Mobile and Asustek Computer, is one of the ministry’s partners in developing the Taiwan Computing Cloud platform, which began commercial operations in October and is managed by the National Center for High-performance Computing.
Lam said that he was excited when Chen invited him to help develop the cloud platform, whose technical requirements, including adopting liquid cooling facilities, were stricter than other nations’ efforts.
Quanta was formed in 1988 to manufacture computers and related components, but new challenges and opportunities are pushing it to switch to an information and knowledge-based business by taking advantage of AI tools, Lam said.
Developing user-centric solutions in smart medicine, smart transportation, smart manufacturing, smart agriculture and smart entertainment is the company’s strategy to “reinvent” itself, he said.
It established the Quanta Medicine and Technology Foundation earlier this year in a bid to develop AI infrastructure for hospitals and precision medicine for everyone, he added.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
Taiwan is doing everything it can to prevent a military conflict with China, including building up asymmetric defense capabilities and fortifying public resilience, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said in a recent interview. “Everything we are doing is to prevent a conflict from happening, whether it is 2027 or before that or beyond that,” Hsiao told American podcaster Shawn Ryan of the Shawn Ryan Show. She was referring to a timeline cited by several US military and intelligence officials, who said Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to be ready to take military action against Taiwan
RSS