To bring the government's plan of turning Taiwan into a "digitalized state" closer to fruition, the Cabinet yesterday launched a cyber-academy to get civil servants to pick up the practice of life-long learning.
"As constructing an e-government underpins the government's six-year national-development program, we hope that the inauguration of the e-learning academy will help materialize the building of a digitalized Taiwan," said Lin Chia-cheng (林嘉誠), chairman of the Cabinet's Research, Development and Evaluation Commission (研考會).
Lin made the remark at a one-day symposium held at the Taipei World Trade Center yesterday.
The Cabinet introduced the NT$2.6 trillion six-year national-development program on Wednesday, with the central government planning to invest about NT$30 billion to turn Taiwan into a "digitalized state."
Major tasks include constructing an e-government, developing e-commerce, building an e-society, constructing an e-transportation network and increasing the household use of broadband Internet services to 6 million homes.
The E-learning Civil Servant Academy (http://elearning.nat.gov.tw) will offer 10 different courses to the nation's 600,000 civil servants.
Addressing the 70 civil servants attending the symposium, Lin said that the inauguration of the online academy shows the government's determination to build an e-government.
"To respond to a fast-changing world, it's important to provide civil servants -- whoever they are and wherever they work -- with a new way of learning, so they'll remain abreast of the most updated information," Lin said.
In addition to inaugurating the online academy, the commission yesterday set up a booth at the World Trade Center -- the venue of the five-day computer and computer software exhibition -- to promote the government's efforts.
Chan Tak-wai (
"Future schools will provide an interest-oriented and online educational environment and offer Internet course contests to attract participants," he said.
Lee Kuan-ching (李冠卿), a physics professor at National Central University and head of the online academy project, said that he is happy to see the project come into being after nine months of work.
"It's a challenge to make long-distance learning as interactive and responsive as face-to-face teaching," Lee said.
To encourage people to learn online, Lee Huang-kuei (
Huang Hsu-hung (
According to Huang, 67 of China's 200 universities, or about 30 percent, acknowledge the credentials of cyber-programs. About 44 percent of the 3,000 universities in the US offer cyber-programs and acknowledge their credentials.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by