Taipei Times: Some reports say the systems integration market will grow to NT$85.5 billion by 2002, and some of that will be driven by e-commerce. How will Systex benefit?
Kao: E-commerce offers great business opportunities for Systex. For example, Systex is currently designing a transaction interface for banks. Once the product is ready, businesses can see loan interest rates for various banks and adjust and place their requests online accordingly.
Systex has also made significant investments in sub-companies such as Asia eBusiness, an application service provider that designs Web portals for small and medium-sized businesses.
For example, right now retail industries have to write thou-sands of purchase orders, and they connect with others through phones and faxes. These costs will all be reduced in the future, as we design a standardized form for companies and establish transaction interfaces for businesses and banks.
TT: Do you see the company shifting more into software development? Is the company developing any software of its own?
Kao: Yes, we do see the company moving into the software direction, as the margins for software are larger than for hard-ware. For example, Systex has developed an "e-broker" solution [whereby stockholders can trade on a security brokers' Web site]. Currently, over 50 percent of Taiwan's brokerage houses use it.
We are also entering the Hong Kong securities market. The biggest security houses are using our system.
We are currently promoting an "F-broker" solution, which is targeted at business-to-bank online transactions. [F-broker is a software solution that allows businesses to do banking online].
TT: What kinds of projects is Systex working on for the government?
Kao: Last year, Systex provided system integration services for Chunghwa Telecommunication's (
This year, we also participated in a bid and won a contract to design Chunghwa Telecom's ADSL system, which has an estimated value of NT$2 billion to NT$3 billion.
The main focus this year, however, is we hope to work with the government to design and manufacture the Intelligent Transportation System, which will allow less waiting time for traffic light changes. [The project is a complete overhaul of Taipei's present traffic system and will tie the city's traffic signals to one computerized system].
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