The National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL) has recruited a former IBM Corp engineer to lead its National Center for High-Performance Computing as part of plans to boost development of artificial intelligence and information security technologies, NARL president Wang Yeong-her (王永和) said yesterday.
Wang made the remarks at an annual media event in Taipei attended by the agency’s officials.
Center director-general Shieh Ce-kuen said he is to conclude his term at the end of this month and return to National Cheng Kung University, and Wang said Shepherd Shi (史曉斌) would succeed him next month.
Photo courtesy of the National Applied Research Laboratories
The NARL is also to sign a memorandum of understanding later this year with the Australian National Fabrication Facility, and host Israeli experts on information security and space technology during their visits to Taiwan, Wang said.
Asked if the NARL would follow the Industrial Technology Research Institute’s move to block cellphones and computers made by Huawei Technologies Co (華為) from connecting to its internal network, Wang said it has already set up firewalls and has not purchased key instruments developed by China.
While the NARL has not banned employees from using Chinese cellphones in the workplace, Wang reminded employees of the security risks they pose.
The center has been monitoring and combating cyberattacks on academic networks, Shieh said, adding that it has observed an increase in the spread of fake news.
However, it is hard to track Chinese hackers, as they often make detours, he added.
While banning products made in China is almost impossible, the government should at least avoid using Chinese equipment in public utility systems, such as those for electricity, fuel, railway and water supplies, Shieh said.
The NARL last year completed a reshuffle, closing its Taiwan Typhoon and Flood Research Institute and establishing the Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute by merging two agencies — the chip implementation center and nano device laboratory.
The semiconductor institute has started operations, with its inauguration scheduled for the end of this month, Wang said, adding that other research centers are also in the works.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
RSS