Taiwan’s cloud computing industry could be driven by the nation’s competitive advantages resulting from its geographic location, undersea cable construction and hardware manufacturing capability, an industry analyst said yesterday.
However, the government should focus more on improving the value of the industry because the country currently relies heavily on providing ODM server services, which provide marginal profits, said Barry Chen (陳學智), president of global virtualization and cloud infrastructure services at VMware Inc.
Instead of looking for ways to lower electricity prices and facility management costs, the government and companies should cooperate to develop new platforms to provide integrated services via cloud computing technologies with an aim to increasing the country’s competitiveness, Chen said.
For example, the Shanghai Stock Exchange center has vigorously promoted these technologies, with the hope of becoming the world’s largest center of its kind within 10 years, Chen said.
Airlines are adopting cloud computing technologies to provide customized services, which is an indicator of future trends for the logistics and financial sectors, he said.
Chen said that although Taiwan has a natural geographical advantage, the government should introduce policies designed to lure foreign investors, adding that investors often choose Singapore as a service hub rather than Taiwan.
Minister without Portfolio Simon Chang (張善政), a former Google Inc executive, said earlier this month that he would focus on the upgrade of the nation’s information technology and communications industry.
Chang said he would assist the promotion of cloud computing technologies throughout Taiwan, adding that such technologies could also be used for education, medical services, healthcare and other services to reduce public grievances and win greater public trust in the government’s administrative abilities.
However, Acer Inc (宏碁) chairman J.T. Wang (王振堂) said on Friday he disapproved of the government’s policy to encourage businesses to establish cloud-based data centers through out the nation.
Wang said cloud-based data centers usually consume large amounts of electricity, have high levels of carbon emissions and do not help promote the development of the cloud computing industry.
It is more important to develop cloud-based applications that meet people’s every day needs, Wang said.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
RSS